Castoff
by hummerhouse
Summary: A decision made in haste by Donatello will change the lives of his family forever. Multi-chapter, 2k16 movie verse. 1st Place in the TMNT Universal Reader's Choice Awards 2017: (General Ballot) Most Exciting Action/Adventure. Preview art by AlessandraDC for this story.
1. Chapter 1

It was their twelfth patrol in as many days and proved to be just as unproductive as all of the others.

That wasn't to say that thwarting some petty crime and a handful of felonies wasn't gratifying. It certainly was, especially now that Master Splinter allowed them to go topside with only a few minutes of lecturing on the subject of remaining invisible. What was even better was having a hotline straight to Police Chief Vincent.

Cleaning the city of crime was a lot easier when you had police backup. Even if you couldn't actually show yourself.

The purpose of the patrols wasn't necessarily crime fighting though, not in the standard sense. What the turtles set out to do each evening was to locate Bebop and Rocksteady.

Though the police had taken them into custody after Casey had handed them their butts, the pair of mutant miscreants had escaped. As unbelievable as it was, Bebop and Rocksteady had effectively disappeared from public view. Donatello had attempted to use his previous method of tracking the pair, but they had apparently shielded themselves, something that greatly puzzled the genius.

The turtle brothers were sure that without the Shredder's assistance, their two foes could not have fled the city. Several large, inexplicable thefts of food seemed to back that theory, but no matter where or how hard they searched, the turtles continued to come up empty.

There was also the small matter of Karai, Baxter Stockman, and the Foot clan to consider. They had also managed to disappear before the police could pick up more than a handful of the Shredder's minions.

Donatello had hazarded an educated guess as to the Shredder's whereabouts and Leonardo tended to agree. Shredder had gone to the Technodrome once Krang had arrived and had still been on it when the turtles had sent it back to whatever dimension it had come from. At least they, and the city, were rid of Shredder.

They were just preparing for their final run of the evening, one that involved a high rise and some free falling adventure, when movement on an otherwise deserted back street caught Mikey's attention.

Stopping to observe the lone figure, the turtles found their interest piqued by the person's furtive behavior. Dressed in jeans and an oversized hoodie which hid their face, the person kept turning their head as though trying to ensure that they weren't observed.

In the person's arms was a well-wrapped bundle, not much larger than a football.

"Maybe it's a bomb," Mikey hissed, watching with wide eyes and an overactive imagination.

"There ain't nothing around here worth blowing up," Raph whispered, though he remained focused on the figure.

As the person neared an alley they began to move faster and that's when the turtles realized from her gait that it was a woman.

"She's going into the alley," Leo said, moving quickly to keep her within sight.

They reached a new perch atop a building overlooking an alley after she'd turned into it. She'd taken only a few steps before it became clear that she was headed for a large garbage container.

"Great, we're watching someone take out their trash," Raph said. "It's probably empty booze bottles."

"Why's she acting so sneaky about it?" Mikey asked.

"Probably she's dumping illegally," Don said absently as he lowered his goggles over his eyes in order to get an enhanced view. "That's not much trash though, but it is exhibiting a heat signature."

When she reached the garbage container, the woman held the bundle against her chest with one hand as she used the other to lift the plastic lid. Then taking the bundle into both hands, she stood on the tips of her toes and dropped the bundle inside the container.

As soon as it left her hands, the woman darted off, running as fast as she could. In that same moment, Don lifted his goggles off of his eyes and jumped over the side of the building.

"Guess we're checking out the trash," Raph said as he leaped down after his brother.

Don was racing for the dumpster even before his brothers hit the ground. It took less than a second for them to understand his urgency; the wailing of an infant echoed inside the container.

Throwing open the lid, Don reached inside the dumpster as his brothers joined him. Don's height was an advantage, he could easily get his hands on the bundle and lift it out.

The baby had been wrapped from head to toe in bloody newspaper. Though its movements were feeble, its cries were strident despite the newspaper covering its tiny face.

Cradling the infant in one arm, Don quickly peeled back the newspaper. The infant's face was red from crying and Don automatically began to rock from side to side, gently bouncing the infant in an effort to soothe it. While he did so, he pulled back more of the newspaper.

Don's gasp alerted his brothers that something was wrong.

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Blinking rapidly, Don snatched the pullover from Mikey's waist and covered the infant with it. "I've got to get back to the lair!" he yelled.

Don was running as he said it, heading straight for the nearest sewer access point. Bewildered, his brothers took off after him, though Don's long legs kept him out in front of them the entire way home.

Once they reached the lair, Don continued to move fast, blowing by a bewildered Master Splinter and entering his lab. Don had only recently closed off that section of the lair, explaining that for everyone's safety it was best if he could keep his experiments contained.

He'd never closed the door to the lab before, but this time when he entered, he slammed the door behind him. His brothers heard the lock turn and came to a quick stop.

"What is happening?" Master Splinter demanded.

Raph tried the doorknob and when it wouldn't turn, he banged on the door with the side of his fist. "Open up, Donnie! What's going on?"

Leo turned and went down on one knee in front of his father. "We saw a woman dump a newborn into a garbage bin. Don fished the baby out and then started running for home with no explanation."

Frowning, Master Splinter said, "We should not keep a human baby down here for any longer than necessary. Your brother should have taken it directly to a hospital and left it there to be looked after."

"We know that," Raph said, looking back at his father. "If we could get this door open we could tell Don that too."

Mikey snapped his fingers. "Hang on, I've got a spare key."

Dashing towards their shared bedrooms, Mikey started rummaging through a box of his things. With a triumphant shout, he held a key up and then ran back to the lab door.

"Where'd you get a key to Don's personal space?" Raph asked suspiciously as his younger brother fitted the key into the lock.

"I lifted Don's key and got April to make me a copy," Mikey said.

Leo joined them. "You do know that Don put the lock on this door specifically to keep _you_ out," he said.

Grinning, Mikey snapped the lock back and opened the door.

The three brothers entered the lab and found Don standing before one of his work tables. He looked up as they approached, his expression denoting a touch of guilt.

On the table was a plastic storage box, the interior hidden from view by a couple of old blankets. A thin tube attached to a vein on the inside of Don's arm fed directly into the box.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked, his eyes wide.

"The baby has a birth defect," Don said. "His spine is so malformed he wouldn't have lived much longer."

"Then we should have taken him to a hospital," Leo said.

Don looked resolute as he disconnected the tube from his arm and reached into the box. "The baby was going to die; no hospital could have saved him in time. I gave him a transfusion of my blood in the hopes that the mutagen would heal him."

Taking the tube out of the box, Don set it aside and walked over to his brothers.

"Are ya' crazy?" Raph asked incredulously.

"What were you thinking?" Leo demanded. "If the hospital does blood tests, the mutagen is going to show up."

Master Splinter pushed his way past his sons and stopped in front of Donatello. "This was not the wisest decision you could have made, my son."

"I know," Don said, hanging his head. "I'm sorry, Father. I just couldn't watch the baby die. Not in my arms."

Taking a deep breath, Master Splinter nodded. "It is done. How is the child?"

There had been no sounds from the box for several minutes and Don appeared upset. "I'm not sure. I'm a little afraid to look because maybe I wasn't fast enough or the mutagen has to be pure to do any good. I just didn't have time to distill a batch of my blood."

A tiny whimper sounded from the box and Don spun around, striding back to where the baby was. Don immediately froze, his eyes glued to the box's interior.

"Don?" Leo asked.

The sound of his name snapped Don out of it and he folded the ends of the blankets down around the baby before lifting him out. Another whimper was followed by loud crying and a small green arm escaped the blanket and began to flail.

Cradling the baby, Don turned to show his brothers. The tiny hairless form had all the unmistakable characteristics of a miniature mutation, right down to the carapace where its unformed spine used to be.

Appearing disconcerted, Donatello said, "Congratulations. It's a turtle."

TBC….


	2. Chapter 2

"I need to sit down," Mikey said, looking stunned.

"Come, this room is too small for the five . . . six of us," Master Splinter said. "We will discuss this turn of events in the kitchen."

His sons trailed out of the lab after him, with Don bringing up the rear. The infant he was holding continued to wail, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Master Splinter, Don, and Leo took the stairs up the kitchen, but Raph and Mikey remained at ground level. Mikey sank onto one of the plastic chairs near where the garbage truck was parked, but Raph paced, staring at the crying baby in Donatello's arms.

Leo pulled a chair out for his brother and Don sat down. He continued to cradle the baby in his arms, cooing softly and gently bouncing him. Nothing seemed to calm the infant, who continued to wail and wave the one little arm that Don hadn't succeeded in swaddling.

"Does that thing come with an off button?" Raph asked, giving Don a frustrated look.

"It's not a thing, it's a baby," Mikey said, wearing a bewildered expression. "A mutant turtle baby. Just like us."

"Ya' really stepped off in it this time Donnie," Raph said. "What the hell are we gonna do with a baby?"

"I asked myself the same question when I found that I was tasked with raising you four," Master Splinter said. "We do what we must. It is clear that this child must now remain with us."

"Dad, we have an advantage that you didn't have," Leo said. "There are five of us to care for the baby and April can help us get the things that a baby needs."

"Somebody want to tell me what it needs right now?" Raph asked irritably.

"He's hungry Raph," Don said. "The first thing we need to do is feed him."

"So what do they eat?" Raph asked. "I'll go out and get it right now."

"We need to call April," Leo said. "She'll know what to buy and where to find it at this time of night."

"Please do that, Leonardo. We will concern ourselves with other essentials after we have seen to the child's hunger," Master Splinter said.

Leo left the kitchen to make the call. Master Splinter sat down opposite Don, leaning forward to examine the baby.

"He looks exactly as you did at this age," Master Splinter said. "The spine, has the defect been cured?"

"He's got a carapace now," Don said. "He's moving his arms, legs, and head, so it appears that the limitations of that particular defect are gone. I'll need to do a more extensive examination once he's calmed down."

"Ain't nothing wrong with its lungs," Raph said, his attitude surly.

"The baby is a 'he', not an 'it'," Mikey corrected him. "A baby boy. Our baby boy."

"Ya' mean Don's baby boy," Raph snapped. "Why do ya' keep repeating the same things like this was some miracle? Even I could have guessed what might happen if we pumped some of our blood into a baby."

"It _is_ a miracle," Mikey insisted, looking up at his brother. "What are the odds that we'd be the ones to find a newborn who was in such bad condition?"

Don opened his mouth and Raph spun on him. "That was a rhetorical question. We don't need to hear the numbers."

"What is it about the child that angers you, Raphael?" Master Splinter asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that our lives are dangerous enough without having a baby to worry about," Raph said, sounding sarcastic. "Nobody knew we existed when ya' raised the four of us, but we've got enemies now. People who'd like nothing more than to find this lair and blow it up like they did the last one."

"I've enhanced our security measures," Don said. "This lair is much more fortified than the last and we've got multiple exit points."

"We've also got friends," Leo said, rejoining his family. "April had a million questions but I convinced her to table them until she arrives. She's going to get Casey to give her a lift to one of those twenty-four hour super stores and then come directly here. She said something about bottles and formula and diapers. I hope that stuff comes with instructions."

"That's where the internet comes in handy," Mikey said. "All of our answers are a keyboard away."

"I don't get you guys. You're all talking like this ain't a big deal," Raph said. "It's a damn big deal."

"What do you propose we do about it now?" Leo asked. "Don made a choice and we're obligated by it. I can't say I would have done anything differently if were in his place."

"Me either," Mikey said. "There's no way you'd have let that baby die, Raph. Admit it."

Raph rolled his eyes and stopped pacing, though he shifted his weight from foot to foot, the way he did when he was agitated.

"Just how exactly are we supposed to patrol the city when we're saddled with that?" Raph asked, pointing at the baby. Turning on Leo, he added, "You're the one who's always preaching that we're a team and we've gotta stay together."

"We'll adapt," Leo said. "Life is about challenges and learning to overcome them."

"Fortune cookie crap," Raph griped. "I ain't babysitting, ya' got that? I don't do babies."

"Is it the prospect of caring for a baby that upsets you, or the change this child will bring to our lives?" Master Splinter asked. "Change is inevitable. It does not matter how much you may dislike it, but time progresses and alters our reality."

"Ya' wanna know what upsets me?" Raph demanded. "I'll tell ya' straight. You're all gonna get attached to that kid and then something's gonna happen. Maybe Don's blood didn't cure it, maybe it catches a cold, or somebody drops it on its head. Next thing ya' know, we've got ourselves a dead baby and a whole lot of fucked up family."

Master Splinter did not bother to admonish his son for his foul language. It was better to allow Raphael to speak what he was feeling than to force him to quash those emotions.

"Those thoughts haunted me as well," Master Splinter said. "Caring and protecting the four of you was a daunting task. There was no waking hour that I did not worry about losing one of you to all of the things you mentioned and more. What held me, what kept me with you, was the immediate love I had for each of you. Rather than dwell on what might happen, I pushed forward and did the best I could to keep you all safe."

"That's what we've gotta do too," Mikey said as he stood up. "It'll be okay, Raph. We can take care of the baby together. You don't have to ever watch him by yourself 'cause one of us will always be there."

"When have we ever encountered something we couldn't handle, Raph?" Leo asked, looking at his brother. "We'll raise this child as a family. Together, just like Mikey said."

"We can do this," Don said.

"Ain't like we got a choice," Raph grumbled. "So where's he gonna sleep? Do we watch him in shifts or what?"

"He can sleep in my space," Don said quickly. "The plastic box will do for a bed and we can use a cushion to support his carapace. We don't want to put a bunch of blankets in with him because he could suffocate."

Raph waved a hand in the air. "See? It's stuff like that we gotta always be thinking about. We're gonna need a user manual to go with this kid."

"We have something better," Master Splinter said. "Experience. I will guide you through this. It is not as overwhelming as it seems."

"When he is old enough, he will learn ninjitsu just as we did," Leo said.

"Wonder if he's gonna be smart like Donnie," Mikey mused.

"I am sure we will all love him whatever his natural proclivities," Master Splinter said.

Don's gaze remained on the baby, his expression filled with awe. "I already do," he murmured.

"Be better if he wasn't crying," Raph groused. "How long did April say it was gonna take to get here?"

"She was going to place the order online because she said everything would be ready for pickup when she and Casey arrived at the store," Leo answered. "Shouldn't be long."

Mikey went up onto the kitchen platform and kneeled down next to Donatello. Being very careful, he stroked a thumb across the infant's brow and for a brief couple of seconds, the child stopped crying.

"We have to name him," Mikey said softly.

"We'll find a suitable name," Don said. "Maybe we could leave that to Master Splinter to do. He didn't get to name us, so it seems right that he name this baby."

"I would be honored to select a name for my . . . grandchild," Master Splinter said, smiling. "That is certainly something I never thought I would say."

"We're here!" April sang out as she and Casey entered the lair. Both were laden down with bags, each bulging and obviously heavy.

"Did you buy out the store, girl? Let me see what you got," Mikey said, jumping down to relieve April of some of her burden.

"I want to see that baby," April said, setting the rest of her bags on the plastic chairs and going up to where Don waited.

"You okay, Raph?" Casey asked, stopping alongside the large turtle.

"I ain't decided yet," Raph said. "Ask me again later."

TBC…..


	3. Chapter 3

It was obvious that getting Donatello to relinquish the mutant turtle baby to someone else's arms would be next to impossible, so April didn't try. Instead, she examined the infant as Don held it, running her fingers over his bald pate and cooing at the baby.

Then she suggested that Don take the baby into the television corner, where the sunning lamps had been installed. It was the warmest place in the lair and the couch their most comfortable piece of furniture.

While Don and the baby moved, Mikey began unpacking the shopping bags. Casey took the items related to feeding the baby, including several different bottle styles, and passed them up to Leo in the kitchen.

Under the sunning lamps, Don removed the blankets from around the baby so that he could have skin to skin contact with him. When April had gotten Don settled on the couch she went back to the kitchen to show Leo how to prepare the infant formula she'd brought. Master Splinter left them to go to his room, a purposeful look on his face.

Raph climbed the stairs to the kitchen and stared at the array of baby things laid out on one of the kitchen tables.

"Here," April said, shoving bottles, nipples, and a bottle brush into Raph's hands. "Wash these in warm, soapy water while I put some water on to boil. After they're washed and rinsed, put them in the boiling water."

If it had been anyone other than April asking him to wash baby things, Raph would have treated them to a few choice words. Instead he took the items to the sink to do as he was told.

To say it was difficult to handle such tiny things with hands as big as Raph's was an understatement. Their kitchen was small and Raph had to keep moving to the side to give April room to fill a pot with water and then place it on the stovetop.

At April's request, Leo brought some clean towels to the kitchen and covered the other kitchen table with it. Once the baby items were rinsed, Raph tossed them into the boiling water.

When Master Splinter came out of his room he had several books in his hands. As he sat down next to Donatello on the couch, the turtle glanced over at his father and saw books on American history, the Italian renaissance, Japanese culture, and both Greek and Roman mythology.

"Dad?" Don asked.

"The child should have a name as soon as possible," Master Splinter responded. "I am certain to find the perfect name in one of these books."

Leo and Raph watched as April used tongs to take the baby items from the boiling water and place them on the towel to cool and dry.

"Do we have to do this every time we feed the kid?" Raph asked.

"You have to clean each part of the bottle after every feeding," April said, "but you don't have to boil them every time."

The baby's cries still echoed through the lair and Raph rolled his eyes. "Will feeding him shut him up?"

"Most likely," April said. "Then you have to deal with burping and diaper changing, and getting him to sleep."

Before Raph had the chance to make a snide remark, Mikey ran up to the railing with a pile of clothing in his hands.

"Look at this cute stuff," Mikey exclaimed with excitement. "There's little pajamas with the feet sewn into them, and things called onesies, and tiny little caps for his head . . . ."

"I guess we gotta learn how to put all that stuff on him too," Raph muttered.

"And diapers too," Casey said, tossing a package of them at the grumpy turtle.

Raph caught the package. "Disposable diapers," he read aloud. "This right here is another thing I ain't doing."

"Be thankful that Miss O'Neil is able to acquire these items for us," Master Splinter said. "When you were little I had to use scraps of cloth as diapers and wash them out by hand."

"Raph was a baby once?" Casey asked. "I'll bet those were some big diapers."

Raph threw the diaper package at his head and the man ducked aside.

"How about we don't damage the diapers before we get the chance to use them?" Leo asked.

"Okay Leo, let's fill a bottle with formula and feed that hungry baby," April said. "Use the bottled water I brought."

Following the directions on the formula container, Leo prepared a bottle. He and April then joined Don in the television corner. April showed them how to hold the bottle while feeding the baby so as to avoid letting too much air into its stomach.

Very carefully, Don touched the nipple to the baby's mouth. Because the infant had worked himself up, it took a couple of tries before he would stop moving his head and latch onto the nipple.

The loud crying was instantly replaced by tiny sucking sounds. There was a collective sigh of relief from the group at the return of relative silence in the lair.

"I bought clothing that I thought would fit around his shell," April said, her eyes glued to the feeding infant.

"His carapace doesn't seem as large as ours," Don said, glancing at his father.

"It is not the same size as yours at that age," Master Splinter said. "Perhaps because he started out as fully human."

"Could someone tell me the full story now?" April asked. "I'm dying to know how this happened."

Casey, Mikey, and Raph had joined them, so with his brothers help, Don told the full story.

When he finished, both April and Casey were gaping at him. "Did you know that giving him your blood would save his life?" April asked.

"Not with any certainty," Don said. "I knew if I didn't try something, the baby would die."

"I'd like to know why his mother thought it would be better to toss him in the trash than to take him to someone who could care for him," Casey said. "There's no way she had the baby in a hospital. They would have had him in an intensive care unit."

"She looked pretty sneaky when she was carrying that baby down the street," Raph said. "Like maybe she was worried someone was following her."

"We don't even know if she was his mother," Mikey said, his eyes wide. "Maybe she stole the baby and dumped him after she saw he was in bad shape."

"There's not really any point in speculating," Leo said. "Whether this child was hers or she kidnapped him, he was going to die. Don saved his life and in the process changed the baby into one of us. He can't be returned."

"Maybe not, but if she wasn't his mother, don't you think the birth mom might want to know what happened to her baby?" Casey asked.

"If we could even track her down, what would we tell her?" Leo asked. "You're the police officer, Casey. What would you suggest?"

Everyone but Don looked at Casey expectantly. Don was too fascinated with watching the infant turtle's face as he drank his formula.

Casey crossed his arms. "I'd start by trying to learn who the mother is. You said the baby was wrapped in newspaper. Did you guys keep the paper?"

"It's in the trashcan in my lab," Don said without looking up.

"There might be a clue on or in the paper," Casey said. "I can check to see if anyone reported that their baby was kidnapped, though if there are detectives assigned to the case, they won't make it public knowledge."

"Ya' gotta know someone who could tell ya' that off the books," Raph said. "Or we could ask Chief Vincent."

"If we get her involved, she'll have questions about the baby and that could open up a lot of red tape," Casey said.

"We don't tell anyone about this baby," Don said firmly, finally looking up at those gathered around him. The glasses he wore magnified his eyes and they were expressive. "Raph's concerns about the dangers outside of this lair are well-founded. The fewer people who know this secret, the better the odds are that our enemies won't learn about him."

"Glad to know somebody here agrees with me," Raph said.

"All of the points that you made were valid, Raphael. Our task is to overcome them," Master Splinter said.

"You guys should show me the alley where you found the baby," Casey said. "Also the route the woman took. Maybe I can backtrack her and figure out where she came from."

"Practicing to get your detective shield?" Mikey teased.

"When you have gifts, they should be used," Casey replied.

"What do you tell the mother if you do find her?" April asked.

Casey thought about that for a moment. The bottle was nearly empty and the baby turned his head, refusing to drink more, so Don handed the bottle to April.

"Here," April said, draping a burp towel on Don's shoulder. "Drape him over your shoulder and gently pat his back . . . I mean shell. Keep his little head supported whenever you move him."

Don followed her directions, placing the baby as she showed him and then tapping his carapace lightly with two fingers.

"If we learn the baby mama is the one who dumped him in the garbage, then we say nothing," Casey said. "If she cared about him, she wouldn't have done that. If we find out otherwise . . . ."

He was interrupted by a loud wailing as the baby once more began to cry. Don continued to pat his shell, but that did nothing to resolve the baby's obvious discomfort.

"What the heck's wrong with him now?" Raph asked.

"He must have swallowed a lot of air when he was crying earlier," April said. "He needs to burp."

"I'm trying," Don said, starting to sound a little frantic. "It's not working."

The infant's screams had a more pained sound to them than before and the crying began to set everyone's nerves on edge. Don shifted the baby to his other shoulder and patted his carapace a little harder, to no avail.

Finally Raph stepped forward. "I've had it," he said.

Reaching down, he curved two fingers behind the baby's head and lifted him off Don's shoulder. Shifting the baby carefully, Raph laid him plastron down on one massive forearm and gave his carapace four firm thumps.

There was an immediate and quite loud burp from the child. Raph's arm was splattered with a mixture of phlegm and formula, but the infant stopped crying.

"How did you know to do that?" April asked with obvious amazement, passing a towel over to the large turtle.

"Pfft, I don't know," Raph said as he cleaned off the spit up. "Seemed pretty damn obvious to me."

Master Splinter closed one of the books he had been reading through and looked around at the gathered group. His expression caught everyone's attention.

Clearing his throat, Master Splinter said, "I believe it is time to give the baby a name."

When he paused, Don said, "What name have you chosen, Sensei?"

"Yeah Sensei, what are we gonna call the little fella?" Raph asked.

"It'll be great to call him something other than 'baby," Mikey said.

"Whatever you've chosen, I'm certain it's perfect," Leo said.

"The baby's name shall be . . . Shilo," Master Splinter told them. "To the Native American Navajo it means 'brother'. In Hebrew the name means 'His gift' and also possibly 'peace'. I believe all of the meanings to hold great significance to this fortuitous turn of events. Do you not all agree?"

"Yes!" Mikey exclaimed enthusiastically.

"It's perfect, Master Splinter," April told him as Casey murmured his agreement.

Don, Leo, and Raph smiled as the new name sunk in. Raph gently lifted the now sleeping baby and held him against one shoulder, cradled in his arm.

"Shilo," Raph whispered. "I kinda like that."

TBC….


	4. Chapter 4

Shilo was sleeping so peacefully in Raphael's arms that he was loath to put the baby turtle down. While he held Shilo, his brothers made other baby preparations.

Donatello cleaned the plastic storage box thoroughly before placing a cushion in the bottom. Mikey picked out footed pajamas from the selection of baby clothing that April had brought over, choosing one that looked as though it would fit the little turtle.

Taking the bottle they'd fed Shilo from to the kitchen, Leonardo washed it carefully. Then he and April cleared out a kitchen cabinet so there would be a place for the infant's bottles and formula.

Casey had followed Don into his lab in order to retrieve the newspaper that Shilo had been wrapped in. Using a magnifying glass, he studied the paper, looking for trace evidence that could lead him to the woman who had dumped the baby into a trash bin.

Because the newspaper was probably the key to locating the woman, Casey used a great deal of caution in handling it. Besides blood, there were smudges in a number of places, which had very likely come from the oils in the woman's hands.

Using his camera phone, Casey took pictures of the spots where the ink from the newsprint had transferred the woman's fingerprints to the paper. The fact that there were prints on the paper told Casey one thing about the mystery woman; she wasn't conniving. She'd clearly been panicked when she'd wrapped the malformed baby in the newspaper and hadn't thought to cover her tracks.

Don carried the storage box over to the couch and set it down. In a quiet voice, he said, "Let's put Shilo in his new bed."

"Not until he's dressed," Mikey said, waving a diaper in the air. The pajamas he'd chosen were draped over one arm. "You said we can't put blankets on him but he's gotta stay warm."

"Nor do you want him soiling his new bed," Splinter said, his face crinkling with amusement.

"So how are we gonna do this without waking him up?" Raph whispered.

"Keep his head against your shoulder," Splinter instructed, "and hold his body while your brothers dress him."

Once Shilo was in position, his little legs dangling, Don followed the diagram on the package and diapered the baby turtle. Then it was Mikey's turn to place Shilo's feet into the pajamas before working them over his diapered bottom and up onto his carapace. Very gently, Mikey shifted the baby's arms, placing them into the pajama sleeves without waking Shilo.

When they were done, Raph lowered Shilo into his makeshift bed and closed the snaps on the pajamas. Standing around the sleeping baby, the three turtles admired their handiwork.

Seeing April approaching, Mikey said proudly, "We got him dressed and put to bed without waking him."

"Congratulations," April said. With a grin, she added, "Most moms manage that all by themselves."

"It's our first time with a baby, cut us some slack," Mikey said.

"Shh, not so loud Mikey," Don admonished his brother. "You're going to wake him."

"We should make a schedule," Leo said. "When to feed him, when to change him, when to give him a bath, things like that."

April's grin turned into a chuckle. "Good luck with that. I'm afraid babies can't read, so he won't follow your schedule. He'll cry when he wants food, he'll cry when he needs to be changed, he'll cry if he's sleepy, and he'll cry when he wants attention."

"So how the hell do we know what he wants if all he does is cry?" Raph asked.

"You'll start to learn the difference by watching the way he cries," April said. "His behavior will tell you what he needs."

"How come you know so much about babies?" Mikey asked.

"I did a week long segment on the subject for my TV station," April answered. "Each segment was only about ten minutes long, but I was with various new mothers for hours that week. I got hands on experience."

"Please don't ever turn off your phone," Leo said. "We may have to call you at any time for advice."

"All the advice you need is sitting right there," April said, nodding towards their father. "Master Splinter has a lot more experience than I do and he knows everything there is to know about mutated baby turtles."

"Oh right," Mikey said, sitting down on the couch next to Master Splinter, who was leaning over the box to watch Shilo sleep. "I was the cutest one wasn't I, dad?"

"You were all very precious," Master Splinter said, choosing to answer in a diplomatic way. "You each provided your own unique challenges as well."

"He's talking about you," Mikey said, looking up and smirking at Raph.

"I'll show you challenges," Raph growled.

"Shh," Don reminded them again.

"Maybe we should move him into our bedroom and put the box on your bed Donnie," Leo suggested. "Then we won't have to worry about our voices waking him."

"Just make sure that whatever surface you put the bed on isn't one where his movements might cause the box to fall," April warned. "Babies roll. The box will work for now, but he really needs a crib."

"Those things cost money," Leo said. "We can't ask you to foot that sort of bill."

Casey walked up in time to hear that part of the discussion. "I have an idea. There are junk cars in the police impound lot. I could buy a couple of them when they go up for auction and we could restore them here and resell them. If Don can transform a garbage truck into a rolling battle station, he can fix anything."

"That is an excellent idea," Master Splinter said. "We must be as self-sufficient as possible. Will that enterprise bring in enough money to repay both you and April for your purchases?"

"It'll bring in more than enough," Casey said. "I can pick up a junker for a couple hundred bucks and resell it for two or three thousand. We'll have a clean title and everything."

"Don't worry about reimbursing me for the things I brought today," April said. "Consider them a baby shower gift."

Shilo grunted in his sleep, twitching as though he was dreaming.

"I'm going to move him," Leo said, lifting the box off the couch.

Don trailed along behind his brother, helping Leo to get Shilo's box situated safely in the curve of his own bed. Once certain that the box wouldn't fall, the pair rejoined the others.

"There were fingerprints on the newspaper," Casey was telling them as Leo and Don walked up. "I've got a buddy in the crime lab who'll run the prints and get a DNA sample off the blood left on the paper. The woman could be in the system; either because she's had run-ins with the law before, has a driver's license, or had a background check done for employment. We won't know if the woman who turns up is the mother, but we'll have a starting place for finding her."

"I started recording as soon as we saw her," Don said. "I haven't had time to review the footage, but I might be able to zoom in and lighten the image enough to catch a glimpse of her face."

"Can you do that before I leave?" Casey asked. "It'd be good to have a picture to compare to whatever I get from the fingerprints."

Don nodded and went to his computer station to start downloading the recording from his shoulder camera.

April turned to the other turtles and said, "You know, you guys are either going to have to wash all of Shilo's things by hand, or invest in a washing machine and dryer."

"There's room in the garage," Leo said, "if the machines are small."

"Get a set of stackable ones," April said. "Where are you going to store his clothes?"

"Can't we just leave them in the bags?" Raph asked.

"You can if you don't mind digging through bags looking for something you might need in a hurry," April said. "A combination storage unit and changing table would be ideal."

"So we need a crib and a changing table," Mikey said. "Where are we gonna put all of that? Shilo needs to be close to us."

"Move your drum set," Raph said. Seeing Mikey's disapproving expression, he added, "We all gotta make sacrifices."

To prevent them from arguing, Leo asked Casey, "Is your friend discreet? Will he tell anyone besides you what he finds?"

"No she won't," Casey said. "She's done stuff for me before and kept it to herself."

"She huh?" April asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Casey glanced at her and then did a double take, trying to determine if April was teasing him or actually jealous. "We're just friends," he said, feeling he needed to provide a bit more of an explanation.

"Mhm," April murmured. Turning back to Leo, she asked, "Are you guys good for the night? I need to catch some shut-eye. I've got an early shoot in the morning."

Don came over with a print-out in his hand. On it was a slightly blurry image of the woman who had dumped the baby.

"This is the best I could do," Don said, handing the picture to Casey. "The low light didn't help the resolution any and its pixelating when I try to zoom in. It's the only place on the video where she turns her face enough to see any of her features at all."

Holding the picture up, Casey examined the woman's features. Her mouth was wide, her nose slightly convex, and her eyes appeared almond shaped. A street light had caught one side of her face, showing that she had brown eyes. Her hair was completely hidden beneath the hoodie she was wearing.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing," Casey said. "At least it eliminates women with light colored eyes. In fact, she might be Puerto Rican. The newspaper's in Spanish and it's a community rag out of East Harlem. That area around the alley where you retrieved the baby is in that neighborhood."

"How do you know all that stuff?" Mikey asked.

"It's my job to know the city," Casey said.

"Come on Casey, drive me home," April said. "The guys probably want to get some sleep."

"We usually sleep during the day," Don said.

"Trust me, you'll learn to sleep when the baby does," April said.

"Let me grab the newspaper," Casey said, jogging back to Don's lab.

He reappeared a minute later with the newspaper inside a plastic bag. Bidding the turtles a goodnight, the duo left the lair.

"Hey, we didn't find out what Casey was going to tell the baby's mom if he finds out Shilo was kidnapped," Mikey said.

"He probably doesn't know," Leo said. "What could you say? Anything you told her would raise questions. You tell her that her child is alive, dead, or kidnapped and the woman is going to ask for proof."

Mikey reached for the remote. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm too excited to sleep."

He turned on the television and a movie battle scene roared to life, the sound reverberating through the lair.

"Mikey!" Don yelped, lunging for the remote and lowering the volume.

"Sorry," Mikey said, looking abashed.

"We have to remember to keep it down when Shilo is sleeping," Don said.

"Mr. Jones' suggestion was a good one," Master Splinter said as he rose from the couch. "I am going to turn in. Call out to me if you need help with Shilo."

"Thanks dad," Leo said. "Goodnight."

"Make room," Raph told Mikey as he took a spot on the couch. "I like this movie."

"I want to take another look at my recording from earlier," Don said. "Are you going to bed, Leo?"

Shaking his head, Leo pulled the chair around and sat down near his brothers. "I'll peek in on Shilo every fifteen minutes or so until you're ready to sleep," he said.

Don left them and the lair became quiet, the only sound that of the TV, which was nearly muted.

The quiet lasted about five minutes before Shilo began to cry.

TBC….


	5. Chapter 5

Leaping to his feet, Leo ran for the bedroom, nearly colliding with Don. When they reached Shilo's box, he was so distressed his face had a reddish tinge and his little hands were clenched.

Reaching into the box, Don lifted the baby out and was immediately hit by a smell that had him turning his head.

"He needs a diaper change," Leo said, somewhat unnecessarily.

"What's going on? Is he okay?" Mikey asked, appearing at the top of the stairs.

"Shilo had his first bowel movement," Don said. "That's a good thing, it means his internal organs are working properly."

"First time I ever heard poop referred to as good," Raph said, bypassing Mikey and catching a whiff of Shilo. "Phew! That's rank. Is he supposed to smell that bad?"

"According to what I read on the internet, this is normal for a formula fed baby," Don said.

"I am not dealing with that," Raph said, holding up a hand and backing away.

"Can someone grab the diapers?" Don asked. "Also, see if April brought baby wipes. I'll have to change him on the kitchen table."

"Where we eat?" Raph asked, his eyes widening. "No way."

"I need a flat surface," Don said. "It won't be an issue once we get the changing table."

Holding Shilo against his chest, Don took the stairs down to the kitchen and lowered the baby turtle onto the table that was still covered in clean towels. Mikey walked up next to him, holding a fresh diaper and a plastic tub of baby wipes. He removed the cellophane covering and popped open the top, pulling the first wipe up so it would be easy for Don to grab.

Opening the snaps on Shilo's pajamas, Don gently worked them off the crying baby. Once the pajamas had been stripped from Shilo, Don handed them to Leo.

A whiff of the pajamas had Leo's nose crinkling. "We can't put these back on him, they stink."

"You guys deal with the poop, I'll find him something else to wear," Raph said quickly, abandoning the kitchen.

Mikey chuckled. "Never saw him move so fast. Hey Donnie, how'd you know about wet wipes?"

"Internet," Don said, his concentration on removing the diaper. Once he'd gotten the side tape loose, he lifted the front but didn't pull it back right away.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"He's a boy," Don said. "When air hits their penis, they tend to spray."

"Something else you learned from the internet?" Leo asked.

When Don nodded, Mikey said, "I guess Master Splinter had to learn that the hard way. Wonder who peed on him first?"

"Probably you," Raph said as he dug through the bags of clothing which still sat on the plastic chairs. "Now I see what April meant about finding a place to put his clothes. I think she bought out the store. He's gonna outgrow most of this stuff before he gets a chance to wear it."

"Not at this rate," Leo said.

Holding Shilo's legs in one hand, Don lifted his bottom high enough to pull the dirty diaper out from under him and set it aside.

"Oh yuck!" Mikey exclaimed.

Don's expression seemed entirely clinical as he took a wet wipe and proceeded to cleanse Shilo's rear end. It took a couple of wipes to get Shilo entirely clean and when Don was finished, he tossed the dirty wipes into the used diaper.

"Fold that up, would you?" Don asked Mikey.

Very gingerly, Mikey folded the diaper in half and then rolled the sides in, using the tape to seal it into a compact bundle. Taking the clean diaper, Don pushed the bottom half under Shilo and then lowered his legs to complete the process.

Shilo had stopped crying when the dirty diaper was off of him and seemed to be falling asleep again. Raph returned with clean footed pajamas and helped Don bundle Shilo into them.

"What do I do with this?" Mikey asked, purposely waving the dirty diaper under Raph's nose.

Raph smacked his hand away. "Cut it out."

"Put it in a plastic bag and set it in the garage," Leo said. "Later we can get a trash can for the diapers and leave it out there so they don't stink up the lair. I'll wash out these pajamas."

Don lifted Shilo from the table and held him in the curve of his arms, looking down at the now sleeping baby. "I'll put him down again and turn in too. 'Night guys."

He left his brothers and they separated to their tasks. When they were done, Mikey sprawled on the couch and dozed off in front of the TV, while Leo and Raph went to their beds. Both glanced in on Don and Shilo, finding them fast asleep, with Shilo's box right next to Don's bed.

"I hope he doesn't forget and trip over that box when he gets up," Raph said.

Removing his swords, Leo pulled back his covers and replied, "When have you ever known Don to forget anything?"

Raph climbed into his bunk and settled down to sleep. Once more the lair turned silent, only the soft sounds of water running across the slide providing any noise at all.

It was completely peaceful for a quarter of an hour and then their sleep was shattered by the screaming cries of an unhappy baby.

"What the hell?" Raph yelled, bolting upright and nearly falling off his bunk.

Tossing back his covers, Leo strode towards Don's alcove just as the genius swung his legs around and leaned down to take Shilo from his box.

Holding the baby on his lap, Don felt his diaper through the pajamas. "He's still clean," he said. "He can't be hungry again, it's too soon."

"More gas?" Leo asked.

"What's going on up there?" Mikey called out from the couch.

"Shilo woke up and decided to let us know about it," Raph said, sounding grumpy.

Don draped the baby across his shoulder and thumped his carapace. The move quieted his cries, but didn't stop them completely.

"Maybe you should put him in bed with you," Leo suggested.

"No, that's something none of us should do," Don said. "If we roll in our sleep we'd crush him."

"Try putting the box in one of our old beds," Raph said. "He might like it better if he's up off the ground."

"Maybe music will help him sleep," Mikey said, crossing over to their stereo equipment. Soon the soundtrack from the movie "A Star is Born" was echoing through the lair.

"More noise won't help," Leo said, raising his voice to be heard over the music.

"What is happening?" Master Splinter asked, coming out of his room.

"Mikey's battling Shilo for who can be the loudest," Raph told him.

"Um guys," Don said, getting his family's attention. "Not anymore. Shilo's asleep."

Sure enough, the baby turtle was sound asleep. Don carefully lowered him into the box.

Mikey leaned against the railing and looked up at his brothers. "Ha, I was right," he gloated.

"There's a first time for everything," Raph said.

Splinter walked over to stand next to Mikey. "We were all making an effort not to disturb Shilo and it appears we were too quiet," he said. "I understand that human children hear what is happening around them even from the womb. Perhaps his mother resided in a noisy environment."

"It's hardly ever quiet around here," Raph said. "If it ain't Don tinkering with some project, it's Mikey banging on his drums. The little tike will be right at home."

"So I can leave the music on and turn the TV up?" Mikey asked.

"Not too loud," Don warned. "The rest of us want some sleep too."

"As if you sleep," Mikey said with a grin.

"I'd like some now," Don said, pulling his legs back into his bed.

"Same here," Raph said. "Who knows how long it'll be before Shilo starts screaming again."

Once more the family settled in for the night. The music continued to play and below that was the faint sound of the television. Shilo slumbered peacefully through it all.

He was still sleeping five hours later when Donatello got out of bed. After checking the baby, he put on a pot of coffee and was scrolling through the local news stations on one of his computers when Leo rose.

"Get enough sleep?" Leo asked, bringing a cup of coffee over to Don.

"Thanks," Don said, accepting the cup and taking a sip. "I did. You?"

"I woke a couple of times to check on Shilo, but slept well for the most part," Leo said. "Anything interesting?"

"The usual," Don answered, knowing Leo was asking if anything fit in their wheel house. "Some break-ins, a couple of murders, one subway attack, a gang fight that might have involved the Foot."

"We'll have to check into that," Leo said. "It would be the first time they've shown themselves since the Krang incident. What about food thefts?"

"Three that were larger than normal, but smaller than would satisfy Bebop and Rocksteady's appetites. Unless all three thefts were done by them," Don said.

"They aren't bright, but I'm sure someone is helping the pair," Leo said. "It's possible they were told not to draw attention to themselves by taking their food all from one location."

"Do you think Karai is giving the orders? Or maybe Stockman?" Don asked.

"Doesn't matter, they're both wanted by the police," Leo said. "If we find Bebop and Rocksteady, we find whoever is pulling their strings."

"I can give us a logical search area by triangulating the locations of the thefts, including the ones from previous nights," Don said. "They know they're wanted, I doubt that they're straying too far from where they've been hiding."

"Do that," Leo said. "We can go tonight and look for them again."

When Don hesitated, Leo asked, "Something else?"

"I was going to hack into the traffic cameras around the area where the woman dropped off Shilo," Don said. "We might get a better view of her face or see where she came from. If there are any ATM's around there, I could upload the video feed from them too."

"That's a good idea, Donnie. Anything you come up with would help Casey find the woman," Leo said.

"Yo, somebody want to make this baby a bottle?" Raph asked, carrying Shilo as he walked towards them.

"We didn't hear him wake up," Don said, standing to check the baby in Raph's arms.

He made as if the take Shilo from his brother, but Raph shook his head. "I've got him. Go make a bottle of whatever that stuff is that he drinks."

Mikey approached, lifting his arms to stretch while yawning widely. "Can I turn off the music now?"

"Please do," Leo said. "I've had enough of that album to last a lifetime."

"It's one of Master Splinter's favorites or I'd chuck it on the garbage heap," Raph said. "Ain't that right, Shilo? What you need is some Rock."

"I read somewhere that classical music was better for babies," Leo said.

"It's called the 'Mozart Effect' and it's been debunked," Don said. "Classical music enhances cognitive abilities no more than listening to any type of music. When he gets older we should teach him to play a musical instrument. That's been proven to have longer lasting effects on spatial reasoning."

Mikey pointed at Don. "What he said."

"You have no idea what any of that meant," Raph told him.

"I want to hold Shilo. You're hogging him," Mikey complained.

"Don hogged him first," Raph said. "Wait your turn."

Leaving them to argue over the baby, Leo and Don went to fill a bottle for Shilo. Leo showed Donnie how to measure out the formula and prepare it.

Raph sat on the couch and fed the baby. Watching the tender care Raph took in making sure the bottle was tipped correctly and that Shilo was latched on properly brought a smile to Leo's face. He refrained from reminding Raph that last night the large turtle had said "I don't do babies".

Their first day caring for an infant went fairly well. Shilo slept through their practice session, enjoyed another bottle given to him by Mikey, and endured having his diaper changed by everyone but Raph. It was the one task they couldn't get him to do.

It was late afternoon when April strolled into the lair. Having ridden over on her bike, she carried only a backpack, which proved to be full of additional items for the baby.

"How much more stuff does he need?" Raph asked as he watched her unpack.

"Trust me, you'll appreciate the pacifiers," April told him.

"Casey just called," Don said, joining them in the kitchen. "He's coming over."

"Did something happen?" Leo asked, seeing Don's worried look.

"I don't know," Don answered. "He was being mysterious."

When Casey entered the lair a half an hour later, they could see from his expression that pleasantries would have to wait.

"What's up? Something wrong?" Raph asked as Casey joined them.

"I have good news and bad news," Casey said and then hesitated.

"Don't keep us in suspense," April said. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Casey said, "The good news is I found out that the woman you saw dumping the baby is his mother."

"The bad news?" Leo prompted.

"The bad news is that she's dead," Casey said.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

Castoff  
part 6

"She's dead? When? How?" Donatello asked.

"I don't have all of the details yet, but it looks like it happened early this morning," Casey said, taking a seat in the kitchen. "There has to be an autopsy. My buddy at the lab is having a fit. She ran those prints before the woman was discovered and then saw the body when she was collecting trace evidence from the Senior Medical Examiner."

"She can't just keep it to herself?" Raph asked.

"No way. Even if she wanted to take that chance, I wouldn't let her. When the detectives investigating the case check the woman's prints, they'll see that Yvette ran them already. Even the bloody newspaper will have to be explained. Yvette can give us until the detectives start asking questions, then she has to tell them about my involvement," Casey said.

"Maybe if we come up with some answers, it'll take the heat off of you," Leo said. "Tell us what you know."

"The woman's name was Lia Colón," Casey said. "She was twenty-four and had a rap sheet as long as Raph's arm. Prostitution, drugs, petty theft, the usual array of street crimes. She's never served more than a few months in jail and that was only because she was caught holding an ounce of heroine. They couldn't prove intent to sell or she would have gotten a minimum of five years."

"Where'd she live?" Raph asked.

"Therein lies another of life's great mysteries," Casey told him. "The address in our files was the one she used before her jail stint. After that she dropped off the radar. No probation therefore no probation officer to report to. Whatever she was into since she got out kept her out of the eyes of the law."

They heard Shilo snuffle and then whine, a good indication that he was waking from his nap.

"I'll get him," April offered, taking the stairs up to the turtle's bedroom. A moment later she returned with the baby turtle and Mikey pulled a chair out for her so she could sit down.

"Leo, could you grab one of the clean pacifiers for me? They're on a towel by the sink," April said. "When was the last time he was fed?"

"A couple of hours ago," Don said. "He'll want something in a little while."

April smiled as she accepted the pacifier from Leo and placed it against Shilo's lips. He latched onto it immediately and his eyes closed as April gently bounced him on her lap.

"Okay, next question," Leo said. "Where did she die?"

"Should we be talking about his m-o-m in front of him?" Mikey asked, spelling out the word.

"He doesn't understand us yet Mikey," Don answered. "Besides, we've already learned that he sleeps better when there's some kind of noise in the lair."

"Not established," Casey said, answering Leo's question. "Her body was found under the tresses near the 125th Street Rail Station."

"East Harlem," Raph said. "That's the area where the baby was dumped."

"She was dumped too," Casey informed them. "Someone killed her, drove up close to a piling, and pushed her body out. There are businesses all along that section of street and none of them were open when it happened. She wasn't found until some pedestrians took a shortcut under the rail line."

"That's just too pat," Leo said. "She gets rid of her baby and then someone gets rid of her. Cause and effect?"

"I hate to say it, but yeah," Casey said. "One almost has to do with the other. That makes the baby an important clue. One we can't produce for obvious reasons."

"Couldn't you just say you found the bloody newspaper?" April asked. "You could explain where you found it and that you gave it to your lab friend because you wanted to determine if there was something to be concerned about."

"Tell Chief Vincent that we found it," Leo said. "Tell her we saw a woman behaving furtively but we were too far away to catch up to her before she disappeared. When we found the newspaper we were concerned that she was injured, so we turned the paper over to you hoping you could use it to locate her."

Casey thought about it for a minute and then said, "Yeah, I think that'll work. It'll explain the delay in turning that information over to the detectives, get Yvette off the hook, keep the detectives off my back, and keep everyone thinking the baby is still out there someplace."

"I'm sure the detectives have thought to check any cameras in the area to see if they caught the killer dumping Colón's body," Don said. "I can look at those same feeds."

"It would help if I know everything the detectives assigned to the case know," Casey said. "They won't tell me unless Chief Vincent orders them to, and I'd rather not have them scrutinize me that closely. If they're watching me, I can't be of any assistance to you guys."

"Forewarned is forearmed, Casey my man," Mikey chirped with enthusiasm.

Don had already gone to his computer array and begun hacking into traffic and security cameras near the rail station. It didn't take him long to discover a dark colored Honda Accord pulling up next to the trellis, stopping for less than two minutes, and then pulling away again.

He called the others over and replayed the footage for them. "You can see the passenger side back door being opened, but none of the cameras had the right angle to see inside the car," Don said. "Colón was small, it wouldn't have taken much to roll her out off of the back seat."

"Can you zoom in on the license plate?" Casey asked.

Don's fingers danced over his keyboard and the car's license plate filled the screen. "Hang on, let me run the numbers," Don said.

"Stolen," Casey muttered in frustration when the information was displayed. "The detectives will have an all-points bulletin on the car. They'll find it before we will. Whoever killed her knew enough to avoid cameras, so they probably won't leave any forensic evidence in the car. Dead end."

"It's almost six," Leo said, glancing at the clock. "Will Chief Vincent still be in her office? You should talk to her before it gets any later. Your friend should also go ahead and inform the investigators about the newspaper. Beating them to the punch will keep the heat off of her."

"I'll make the calls," Casey said. "Somehow I think doing this over the phone will keep me from spending the night down at the station. We have one piece of information no one else has yet. Before the area is swarming with cops, I want to try and find where Colón was coming from when she dumped the baby."

"That's what I forgot to do," Don said suddenly, snapping his fingers and startling everyone. "I meant to check the street cams along the route that Colón took so that we could backtrack her."

He started typing furiously while murmuring incoherently to himself, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Come one, come all," Raph said with a grin. "Witness the effects of a baby upon the mind of a genius."

Don seemed not to hear him as different camera views of the same street popped up on the computer screens. "There she is," he said, pointing at a figure walking hurriedly down the sidewalk, a bundle clutched in her arms. "She's on West 120th Street coming from the direction of Lenox Avenue."

The camera they were watching lost her, but then another picked her up immediately.

"She turned down an alley in the block before she reached 7th Avenue," Leo said. "As soon as she dumped the baby, she headed back in the direction she'd just come from. Can you pick her up on the way back?"

"Just need to advance the clock time on the camera recordings," Don said, his tongue protruding from his mouth as he worked the keyboard.

"There's no way for anyone to know that someone was checking these camera histories, is there?" Casey asked. "I'd hate to lose our advantage by dropping this info in the investigators' laps."

"Donnie sneaks into all kinds of systems without anyone the wiser," Mikey said, answering for his brother. "He's a genius, remember?"

"No one will know," Don assured their friend as his computer screen showed Colón ducking out of the alley and proceeding along West 120th Street, moving quickly.

"She just gave birth and she's probably still bleeding," Casey muttered as he watched her. "She had to be in pain, yet she got dressed, wrapped the baby in newspaper, and took off into the night to find a place to dump him. That spells scared out of her mind in my book. I wonder what she was so scared of."

"Considering she was murdered soon after that, I'd say she was justified in being afraid," Leo said.

"Do you guys really think her getting rid of Shilo had something to do with her being killed?" Mikey asked. "That's just wrong."

"Everything about this is wrong," Raph said. "Somebody needs to pay."

"She crosses Lenox Avenue and then Malcolm Boulevard," Don said, keeping a running commentary on Colón's progress. "She's still on West 120th."

The turtles and Casey were so focused on Don's computer screens that they didn't notice that Shilo had gotten fussy. Master Splinter took him from April, who got up to prepare a bottle for the hungry baby.

"She's passing the camera in front of the fitness club," Raph said. "I recognize the area 'cause it's close to Marcus Garvey Memorial Park."

A couple of minutes later the woman was gone.

"What happened? Where is she?" Casey asked.

"There are no cameras until you get to the transit stop at 5th Avenue," Don said. "She didn't go that far."

"So we lose her somewhere along 120th near Mount Morris Park West," Raph said. "That's a big area. What if she had a ride waiting for her somewhere near the park?"

"I doubt she would have walked so far in her condition if she had a ride," Leo said. "Casey, better make your phone calls. I think a trip to the park is called for."

Casey went out into one of the tunnels to make his calls, ensuring that no background noise would give away his location. Don left his computers to check on Shilo and found that his father was feeding the baby.

"Want me to take over Dad?" Don asked, sounding a little anxious as he sat in a kitchen chair next to Master Splinter.

"I believe I am capable of feeding a baby turtle," Master Splinter said with indulgent good humor. "I am fairly certain that none of you four starved to death."

"Sorry," Don said, looking abashed. "It's just that I'm . . . ."

"Donnie, you were going to use the food thefts that were reported last night to try and pinpoint an area where we could continue our search for Bebop and Rocksteady," Leo called out. "Have you done that?"

"No," Don said, jumping up from his chair and shuffling quickly back to his computers, where Leo was waiting. "Sorry, sorry Leo."

He sat down and began to type instructions into his computer. Leo leaned over his chair and said softly, "That's okay, Donnie. Having a baby in the lair is distracting for all of us."

"We can't afford to be distracted," Don said, unable to meet Leo's eyes. "I can't afford to be distracted. We aren't going to find those two unless I can track them down. It's not safe for any of us if they're on the loose. Suppose they find our home? Suppose they attack when we aren't here? Shilo is . . . he's defenseless."

Raph had been pounding his punching bag but stopped when he overheard his brothers' conversation. Walking over, he said, "They ain't gonna find the lair, Donnie. You've got so many security features set up that no one is even gonna get close without setting off all kinds of alarms. Besides, there's a hundred ways out of here and at the first sign of trouble, Master Splinter will grab Shilo and get him out of the lair."

"That's a very different view from the one you had last night," Leo said, looking up at Raph.

"Yeah, well last night it was Don here trying to reassure me with talk of our new security measures," Raph said. "I guess at some point you have to come to terms with what you can't change and find a way to live with it. Besides, Shilo's family now and I'll be damned if I'll let anything happen to him."

Mikey had been watching Master Splinter feed Shilo, but now he wandered back over to where his brothers were gathered and said, "Me either. Nobody's gonna lay a finger on his little head."

Their assurances seemed to calm Donnie, who turned his focus to the job at hand. "Got it," Don sang out, pulling a map up on one of his screens. "The food thefts from last night all took place in an area bordered by the Hudson River, West 34th, and Central Park. One of the thefts from two nights ago was on 9th Avenue, which is in the same general area."

"That's way the hell on the other side of Central Park from Harlem," Raph said.

"Only fifteen minutes by truck," Don said as Casey reentered the lair and came over to join them.

"We can investigate both," Leo said, making the decision for them. "We'll take the truck to West 120th and see if what we can find that might clue us in to where Shilo's mom was going. Afterwards, we'll drive over to check out all three of the places that were hit last night."

"Food thefts. Bebop and Rocksteady," Mikey said, seeing the confused look on Casey's face.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about those two. So, I talked to Chief Vincent. She's going to speak to the detectives and let them know why Yvette ran Colón's prints and that she has the bloody newspaper. They would have turned it over to Yvette anyway. Chief Vincent will tell them I found the newspaper so there's no chain of custody issue," Casey said. "They'll want to talk to me tomorrow, but that's then and this is now. Are we heading out?"

"We are," Leo said decisively. "Let's go."

All five of them jogged towards the garage. They had just reached the garbage truck when April's voice sang out from behind them.

"Did you forget something?"

Spinning around, they saw that April was standing at the top of the stairs, holding a wide awake baby turtle in her arms.

TBC….


	7. Chapter 7

Castoff  
part 7

"Shilo!" Don exclaimed. Spinning around, he dashed up the stairs and took the baby turtle from April. "We can't all leave. I'll stay with him."

"You can't," Leo said. "We need your tech skills if we're going to find out anything about Colón or locate Bebop and Rocksteady."

"We have a baby now Leo," Don said as he rocked Shilo. "We have to adjust."

"That baby needs for us to find out what happened to his mother," Leo responded.

"I can keep track of your progress from here," Don said, nodding towards his computers.

Leo walked up the stairs, making sure he had Don's attention. "We need you and your diagnostic equipment there on the ground with us Donnie. We could easily overlook important clues."

"You've got Casey," Don argued. "He's been trained to know what to look for."

"Granted, Casey can be a big help in understanding what we're looking for or what we're seeing," Leo said. "He can't analyze any of it or see the trace elements of whatever stuff you usually find floating around."

Don stared at Leo, then blinked and lowered his head to look at Shilo. The baby was sucking on his pacifier, his brown eyes turned up towards Don's face.

The others had been patient as they listened to the discussion, but Raph was getting tired of standing around. "Time's ticking bros," he said. "That window of opportunity to stay ahead of the cops is closing."

Breaking out his most winning smile, Mikey said, "Maybe April could . . . ."

"Oh no," April said, quickly cutting him off. "I could stay for maybe three hours, but I have an early morning newscast."

Master Splinter had remained out of it, curious as to where the conversation would lead and to see how his sons would handle their first quandary since becoming 'fathers'. He decided to step in.

"I will watch Shilo while you go in search of answers," Master Splinter offered. "However, you must remember that the responsibility for this child belongs to all four of you now. Caring for children requires that you make sacrifices. Your time is no longer your own."

As the others jumped into the back of the garbage truck, April gently took Shilo from Don's arms and passed the turtle baby over to Master Splinter. "Go on; leave. We've got this. Find out what happened to his mother. He'll want to know when he gets older."

Don nodded and after one last look at Shilo, descended the stairs with Leo and got into the garbage truck. Taking his place behind the wheel, Don drove out of the tunnel and onto the street.

Noting the amount of traffic that was still out, Leo said, "Head towards West 34th first. Most of the public places in that area should be closed now. There are too many residential buildings near Marcus Garvey Park; we'll need to wait until people settle in for the night to investigate where Colón disappeared."

"Right," Don said, making a turn so that they were headed in the correct direction.

Raph began beating a steady rhythm against his punching bag. Seated on the couch, Casey watched as Mikey battled a video game. The three began tossing comments back and forth in order to pass the time.

It wasn't long before Leo noticed how quiet Don was, something that was unusual for the genius, who tended to prattle on about whatever was in his head.

"You okay, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Don's eyes shifted to the side as he glanced at Leo and then looked back at the road. "I was thinking about how much I didn't want to leave Shilo. I can't get him out of my head, Leo. I'm sorry."

Frowning, Leo said, "You don't have to apologize. Why would you think you needed to?"

For a moment, he didn't think Don would answer. Leo watched his brother, trying to read his thoughts from the expressions that flitted across his face.

"I made a snap decision without consulting you guys," Don said quietly. "Now we've got this new responsibility that means we can't just go out and do whatever we want whenever we want anymore. I've really messed up our lives, haven't I?"

"You have not," Leo said. "I would say that having a baby will enrich our lives."

Don seemed almost not to hear him. "For the first time in my life I acted on instinct rather than intellect. I should have realized what would happen. Now we have a baby and that's going to hamper all of our activities."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe you _did_ know what would happen and wanted it?" Leo asked.

"You think I wanted a baby?" Don asked in surprise.

Leo shrugged. "Maybe not consciously, but a deeper part of you could have recognized that need and acted on it. I have to admit that after the initial shock, I found the idea of having a younger generation to raise pretty appealing."

"You did?" Don asked. "Do you still feel that way now that we know how much we'll have to adjust in order to care for Shilo?"

"I do. Humans make that kind of adjustment all the time," Leo said. "If they can do it, so can we."

"Humans have on average forty weeks in which to prepare for a child and to get used to the idea of having one," Don said dryly.

"And turtles normally lay a clutch of eggs and then swim off, leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves," Leo said. "We're parents, Donnie. I've never even entertained that idea because I knew it wouldn't happen for us. I can't help but feel ecstatic about having a baby."

"I feel the same way when I'm holding Shilo," Don admitted. "Having to walk away from him was much harder than I thought it would be."

"He's in good hands," Leo said. "There is no one on this planet more qualified to care for a mutated baby turtle than Master Splinter. And don't forget that April is there with him."

"Just for a couple of hours," Don said.

Leo sighed. "I'd tell you to stop worrying, but that never does any good and I know you won't listen. How about you try to focus on our mission for a little while? We need your head in the game right now."

"I can do that," Don said. "I'm taking West End Avenue to West 57th so we can stay away from the Lincoln Center. That will put us in the area where the food thefts occurred."

"Do a slow drive-by of each location," Leo instructed. "Let's see if they have anything in common."

Punching up the street map that Don had uploaded to the truck's computer system, Leo navigated their route to each of the spots where food thefts had occurred.

"One thing I can see right off, they ain't going past Avenue of the Americas," Raph pointed out. "They're stealing food within a nice rectangular area of the city."

"A nice _big_ area," Mikey said.

"Criminals tend to stick close to home," Casey said. "Somewhere within this area is their base of operations."

"Possibly Karai's base as well," Leo said. "Bebop and Rocksteady combined don't have the brainpower to stay hidden for this long. They must have been responsible for the large thefts and Karai put a stop to it to keep them from being found."

"We're gonna find them 'cause of their appetites," Raph said. "It's not like they're gonna stop eating. One big theft or a bunch of small ones on the same night are pretty much the same thing in my book."

"How much time between each theft, Don?" Leo asked.

When he didn't receive an immediate answer, Leo repeated himself. "Donnie?"

Don's attention was on a small monitor on the dashboard to the left of his steering wheel. Leo leaned over and saw that he was watching a video feed of the inside of the lair showing Master Splinter seated on the couch with Shilo.

Leo's movement caught Don's attention. "Oh right. Between thefts? About three days. They steal a lot of food."

"That means we can probably expect another theft to occur two nights from now," Leo said.

Casey got up and braced himself on the backs of Don and Leo's seats in order to look at the map. "It may be a large area, but if Karai is calling the shots, they won't hit the same places. That narrows the possibilities for the next theft. Maybe we could be on stand-by in a couple of vehicles and wait for something to happen."

"I can hack into the traffic cameras," Don said. "It would be easy to program an algorithm that would identify Bebop and Rocksteady's individual heat signatures and those produced by a human body covered head to toe in black. As soon as we got a hit we'd know exactly where to converge."

"I'm liking this plan," Casey said with enthusiasm. "Those two need to be taken off the streets permanently."

"So do Karai and her goon squad," Raph said.

"If Shredder finds his way back here, he'll be all alone," Mikey said, sounding pleased. "Couldn't happen to a nicer villain."

Don had come to a stop across the street from where the last food theft had occurred. The entire block was quiet and dark, other than the few street lights that did little to disperse the gloom.

"When Shredder was around, the Foot didn't worry overmuch about being seen," Leo said. "If it's Karai who's leading them now, she's being careful about sticking to places that are mostly deserted at night."

"That would help narrow our search grid even more," Don said. "The thefts occur after midnight, but there are clubs and restaurants that stay open until two a.m. She'll make sure those places are avoided."

"Good, we have a working plan," Leo said, settling back in his seat. "It's close to eleven; most of the people near the park where Colón vanished should be in their homes. Let's head over there."

Don put the truck into gear and sped off. On the chance that their quarry might be out, Casey sat down at one of the side monitors and surveyed the streets.

Taking West End Avenue again, Don headed towards their next destination. Though Leo was also keeping an eye out for Foot activity, from time to time he glanced at Don. His brother's attention seemed to be divided between the road and the video feed from the lair.

Ahead of them brake lights flashed as a taxi cab slowed to a stop and double parked. Don's head was turned towards his monitor.

"Watch the road!" Leo shouted, grabbing the steering wheel.

"Oh crap!" Don yelled, stepping on the brake pedal and jerking the wheel from Leo's hands as he completed the swerve to the side that his brother had started.

"Damn Donnie!" Raph exclaimed, clutching at his punching bag to steady himself.

"Sorry guys," Don said, looking embarrassed.

Leo reached across his brother and turned off the monitor. "No more spying on Master Splinter. If he needs us, he'll call."

"Okay," Don said. "I suppose I'm obsessing."

"You do tend to do that," Leo said with amusement.

When they finally reached Mount Morris Park West, Don pulled over and parked. After ensuring themselves that no one was around, the turtles and Casey exited the truck.

"We'll take to the rooftops and follow her route from up there," Leo said, addressing Casey. "You all right to walk the route from down here?"

"Sure. Maybe I'll run across someone who might know something about Colón. I've got a mug shot of the woman that I can show to people," Casey said. "Meet up in the alley where she dumped her baby?"

"Yes," Leo said. "We'll wait for your signal that the coast is clear before we come down."

"We're a jump ahead of the detectives," Casey said. "I'm sure that once Chief Vincent passes along the information I gave her, the guys assigned to Colón's murder will blanket this place with investigators."

"The cameras that we used to track Colón will find you too," Don warned. "Fortunately for us, there aren't any in that alley."

"I can explain my snooping easily enough," Casey said. "The guys in the detective squad are getting used to it."

After a last quick look around, the turtles darted across the street and were on the roof of the nearest building almost before Casey could reach the sidewalk.

Casey walked the route that Lia Colón had taken on her last night alive. Though he knew the turtles would reach the alley quickly, he took his time and surveyed the neighborhood.

Row after row of homes lined the narrow street, as did parked cars. There were trees all along the route and for the most part, the areaways were well kept. Although it was a nice night, no one was out, and it appeared that every street facing window was well covered.

That was Casey's first clue that the area might have gang problems. He realized he wasn't going to find anyone in the neighborhood who would admit to seeing or knowing Colón. In all probability, none of them had witnessed her trip to the alley and back again.

By the time he reached the alley, Casey hadn't encountered another soul. Approaching the dumpster, he lifted his hand in the air and made a circular motion. A second later four large forms dropped out of the darkness to join him.

"I didn't see a single person during my entire walk," Casey said. "I should have; there should have been people sitting on stoops or even just having a smoke, but there was no one. The windows are covered so you can't even see lights inside the houses and I'll bet you the doors are triple locked."

"It was the same on the night we were here," Leo said. "Granted it was later, but in a neighborhood inside the city? There should be someone outside."

"This area's got a gang problem, don't it?" Raph asked. "Was Colón mixed up with some gang?"

"It's a good working theory," Casey said. "Even the way she was killed and tossed out fits. This the dumpster where she left Shilo?"

"Yes," Don said, lifting the lid. The smell of decaying garbage wafted out at them. "There's a lot more trash now. It was only half full when she put Shilo in here."

"Are you sure that's all she threw out?" Casey asked. "Any chance I need to do some dumpster diving?"

"All she had in her hands was the baby bundled in newspaper," Don said.

"Then the detectives can play in the trash," Casey said as Don lowered the dumpster's lid. "My guess is that she lived someplace near the park. This is the only alley in the area with a large dumpster. Anyone not familiar with the neighborhoods around here wouldn't know about it."

"What's the next step?" Mikey asked.

"Canvas the neighborhood during the day and see if anyone recognizes her picture. That's a job for the detectives too. I'll see if I can insinuate myself into the investigation. I have a feeling they'll want me where they can direct my actions," Casey said with a grin.

"If the people around here are afraid of a gang, they ain't gonna admit to knowing the woman," Raph pointed out.

"We're used to that," Casey said. "It's part of our training. We don't only go by what they say, we observe how they say it. Even something as small as the way their eyes dilate when they see her picture will tell us if someone is familiar with the victim."

"So we spent a few hours driving around just to get nothing," Raph griped. "Not only that, we gotta leave the hunt for Colón's killer to the police."

"You guys didn't need me after all," Don said.

"We didn't know that," Leo said. "It was a good idea for us to get a feel for the neighborhood anyway, it might come in handy."

"There's nothing else to do tonight," Casey said. "I'll meet you guys back at the truck."

He watched the turtles ascend to the rooftops, marveling at how fast and silent they were. For such big guys, they were damn agile.

This time the brothers kept pace with Casey, moving slower so they could memorize every areaway, every basement entry, every residence, and every landmark. It was something they'd trained to be able to do in case instant recall became necessary.

Don recorded their progress as well, the infrared feature on his goggles showing him heat signatures inside the homes. He noted that the occupants were careful to avoid staying in the front part of their homes for any length of time. The enhanced view provided by his goggles showed him why they were so cautious; the fronts of several buildings were marred by bullet holes.

There hadn't been much traffic on the street, but Don studied each vehicle that drove by. Below them, Casey took his time, his actions clearly emulating those of the turtles. Apparently he didn't like leaving empty handed either.

A large, older model car turned the corner off of 7th Avenue, driving slowly. It slowed even more once it was on the same block as Casey, seeming to keep pace with him. Because it was so quiet, Don was sure that Casey had to know it was behind him from the sound of the engine, but he didn't turn his head.

"Casey's got company," Raph growled.

"Don, can you see anything?" Leo asked, his eyes fixed on the car.

Using the binocular features on his goggles, Don zoomed in on the car in order to peer through the front windshield. "I can just make out two men in the front seat. Hang on."

Switching back to infrared, Don surveyed the car. First he read the heat from the engine, then adjusted his line of sight to see inside the vehicle.

There were four figures in the car and from their shapes, they appeared to be men. Each of them held something on their laps, but those objects appeared black against the heat of the men's legs.

With a sudden gasp, Don realized what he was seeing.

"Don?" Leo asked.

"Guns," Don said, his voice rising in pitch. "They've got guns."

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

"We're bulletproof, he's not," Raph said, making a move towards the edge of the roof.

"Wait," Leo said, grabbing Raph's forearm. "Casey knows they're following him. If we jump down there, we might start a fire fight. Give him a chance to tell us what he wants us to do."

Leo had seen Casey slow down as he neared a large tree adjacent to a basement areaway. Cars parked end to end along the curb gave him another layer of protection.

Casey stopped when he reached the tree, standing so that half of his body was behind its trunk. As he waited for the approaching car, he slipped his police shield from his waistband and used the attached cord to hang it around his neck.

With his shield fully visible, Casey reached back, lifting his jacket so he could grasp his service revolver, which was tucked into a belt holster. He didn't draw the weapon, merely holding that pose as the car drew up alongside him and came to a stop.

"What's going on?" Mikey asked.

"Don, any way to hear them?" Leo asked.

Nodding, Don tapped a set of commands into his wrist-mounted computer and suddenly the street sounds became amplified.

"You lost, cop?" the car's driver asked.

"Nope," Casey answered. "Are you? I know this city pretty well, maybe I can give you some advice."

The passenger door opened and a man stepped out. He was of a stocky build and average in height, with dark skin and hair. Leaning his forearms against the hood of the car, he grinned at Casey, but there was no humor in that smile.

"We don't need advice, but maybe you do. From one good citizen to another," the man said in a slightly accented voice. "This is a rough neighborhood. We do our best to keep the bad elements out of it, but a cop like you, walking around at night all alone, well, he's a target for someone trying to make a name for himself. You should find your car and get going before that happens. You get hurt, it makes us look incompetent."

"Maybe they're the block patrol," Mikey said.

Raph scowled at him. "Don't be so naïve. Even from up here I can see the gun sticking out of his waistband."

"I'll take that under advisement," Casey said. "Thing about police though, our job is to go into rough neighborhoods. If one of us goes down, that shines a spotlight and pretty soon the rough neighborhood has a cop on every corner. Tell you what, if you feel like this neighborhood warrants that kind of protection, you should call the precinct and talk to someone there about setting up regular patrols."

"Slick," Raph muttered with a grin.

"Let's hope it's enough to get rid of them," Leo said. "If shooting starts, some of the stray bullets will go right into these homes."

They could see the street lights shine off of the man's teeth as he smiled. "That's okay, cop. We take care of our own. Have yourself a nice night."

He climbed back into the car and it slowly drove off. Casey waited until the car had turned a corner before he started walking again.

The turtles trailed along on the rooftops, keeping him in their sights. Don kept his eyes on his wrist computer, analyzing the various readouts along their route. As they neared the intersection that separated the homes from the park, he noted something that was cause for concern.

"Guys, I'm picking up heat signatures from the park," Don said. "A half dozen of them. There are elevated levels of both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide nearby."

"Exhaust fumes," Raph translated. "Probably from a couple of idling cars."

"Casey's about to walk into a reception committee," Leo said.

Raph pulled his sai, giving them a spin as he said, "Let's return the favor."

"We need to warn him . . . ." Leo began.

"Already on it," Don interrupted, touching the number sequence that would dial Casey's phone.

They saw Casey stop to answer his cell phone. "What's up?"

"You've got company," Don said. "They're waiting in the park for you."

"Damn it, I left my mask in the car," Casey said. "If it's a fight they want, I'm happy to oblige."

"There are at least six of them," Don told him. "Probably armed."

Leo leaned in close to Don so that he could be heard on the mic. "Casey, wait for us to slip around behind them. Let's try to keep the shooting to a minimum so that none of the residents get hurt."

"Tell me when you want me to draw their attention," Casey said.

"Don will give you the signal," Leo said.

Remaining where he was, out of sight of the men lying in ambush, Casey kept the phone to his ear and waited.

"If there are six of them, they probably aren't planning to shoot," Mikey said. "Killing a cop is bad for business. They're waiting for a chance to give Casey a beat down to scare him off."

As usual, his observation was insightful and useful. "Get in close, take them before they have a chance to pull their weapons," Leo ordered.

Casey had worked with the mutant foursome enough to know he wouldn't hear or see them cross the wide street to enter the park. He made his way to the corner of the last building on the block, staying in the shadows and hugging the wall. Let the men who were looking for him wonder where he went. They would be focused on trying to locate him and not paying attention to what might be sneaking up behind them.

It took only seconds for the brothers to reach the park and work their way in behind the men who were hiding there. With a single gesture, Leo indicated that his brothers should spread out and each choose a target.

Don was not surprised that Raph and Leo each found positions that put them within range of two pairs of men. Mikey had moved in close to a stocky fellow who looked as though he could go a few rounds with a bulldozer.

The man that Don found himself nearest was the tallest of the group. Even in the dim light, he could tell that the man was carrying a collapsible pool cue. It was an odd thing to see outside of a billiard hall, but not a bad idea as far as easily accessible weapons went. He could break it down, put it in a case, and boldly walk the streets without anyone giving him a second glance.

That suited Donatello just fine. He knew the man's pool cue was no match for his bō, no matter how talented the guy might be at wielding it.

On Leo's first signal, Don whispered "Go" into his mouthpiece. As soon as Casey stepped out of hiding, Leo's second signal sent the turtles rushing towards their targets. They were so silent that the men didn't know they had company until the brothers were practically on top of them.

Unfortunately, Don's subject chose that moment to turn around in order to light a cigarette. Seeing the tall mutant rushing at him, the man dropped the cigarette and lighter and swung his pool cue at Don.

Because he was off-balance, the man's counter move was awkward and lacked force. Don easily shoved the cue aside, knocking it from the man's grasp at the same time. Then he struck the man directly in his gut with the end of his staff.

A very satisfying 'woof' escaped the man's lips and he stumbled back in pain. To Don's surprise though, the man didn't go all of the way down.

He hadn't seemed all that muscular, but he clearly had a more solid core than Don had allowed for. Just as Don started forward to finish the job, the man straightened up with a pistol in his hand.

It was by no means the first gun Don had ever faced but for some reason he froze.

What happened next took a millisecond, but to Don it felt like an eternity. With his gun aimed directly at Don's head, the man pulled the trigger. At the exact same time, a sai struck the gun and pushed it off target.

The crack of the discharge snapped Don out of it and he brought his bō around against the side of the man's head. This time the thug went down and stayed there.

Don looked up as Raph approached him to retrieve his weapon. "What the hell happened to ya' bro'? Ya' nearly got your face shot off."

"I'd already calculated the bullet's trajectory. He would have missed," Don lied, unwilling to admit to his dangerous lapse.

"Uh huh," Raph said, clearly not buying it. "Sure."

Casey had joined them and was walking from one fallen gang member to the next. After examining each of them, he said, "None of these were the ones from the car. They've all got the same tat. It looks familiar."

Don took a picture of each man's face and their visible tattoos. "I can run them through facial recognition and check the prison tattoo database."

"Those are secure state servers," Casey said, striving to sound serious though a touch of humor came through in his voice.

Turning to Casey, Don said, "There are so many ways into a so-called secure server. You can find the programmer's back door and . . . ."

"Thanks Donnie," Leo said, cutting him off. "We should go before their pals show up looking for them."

"Or we could stay here for some more exercise," Raph suggested.

"There's no point in starting a war before we know who we're up against," Leo said. "Besides, Master Splinter didn't sign up to spend the entire night taking care of Shilo."

Maybe it was the reminder that they had a baby to care for, but Raph didn't argue any further. After ensuring themselves that no one was watching, the group piled into the garbage truck and Don drove it back to the lair.

They were nearly at their destination when Mikey made a sudden demand for Don to stop the truck.

Mikey's tone was so urgent that Don immediately pulled over. He hadn't even come to a complete stop when Mikey bolted from the truck.

"What is he doing?" Raph asked, leaning over Leo's seat to watch their younger brother dart across the street into an alley alongside a small toy store.

"I have no idea," Leo answered, staring out the window as well.

A few minutes later Mikey reappeared and hopped back inside the truck. In his hand was a floppy brown teddy bear.

"For Shilo," Mikey announced proudly.

"I hope you paid for that," Leo said as Don drove off.

"'Course I did," Mikey said without looking at his brother. He held up the teddy bear and added, "Look at this cute thing. Shilo will love it. I'll be his favorite uncle."

"'Cause there's nothing better than buying a kid's affection," Raph said dryly.

Don was abnormally quiet during the remainder of the drive. Leo noticed but didn't say anything. Inside the tight confines of the truck with so many others listening was not the way to get Donnie to open up.

They found Master Splinter seated on the couch watching television, with Shilo sleeping in his plastic box next to him.

"April helped me feed and change him before she had to leave," Master Splinter said as his sons approached. "Were you able to learn anything?"

Don sat down on the couch next to Shilo, who didn't even stir at the sound of voices.

"Only that a gang seems to have control of the neighborhood where Shilo's mom left him," Leo told his father.

"A gang who thinks it's okay to ambush a cop," Raph said.

"You'd be surprised at how many of them think that way," Casey said. "I'm gonna take off guys. I'll let you know tomorrow if the detectives find out anything during their canvas."

"That's if ya' can get included in the investigation," Raph said.

"I'll get included," Casey said. "You can count on it."

Casey waved his goodbye as he left the lair. Mikey leaned over Shilo's box, teddy bear in hand.

"Don't wake him," Don warned.

"I won't," Mikey said. He started to tuck the bear in next to the sleeping baby turtle but then stopped to look up at Don. "Is it safe?"

"Probably not until we get him a bigger bed," Don said. "When he's stronger, he can push it away from his face, but not just yet."

"That's okay," Mikey said, hugging the bear to his plastron. "I'd rather give it to him when he's awake."

Master Splinter stood up. "I am going to bed. My suggestion is that you all do the same while the baby is sleeping."

They bid their father goodnight and then Leo picked up Shilo's box. "Come on Don, let's get the two of you settled."

All four of the brothers turned in for the night, making certain to leave the television on, the volume up enough so that the lair wasn't completely silent.

Leonardo wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when he suddenly woke. Sitting up, he looked around, trying to determine what had disturbed him. He saw that Mikey and Raph were in their beds, but that Don wasn't. Shilo's bed was gone as well.

Rising silently, Leo glanced across to the living area and saw just what he'd expected; Don seated on the couch cradling Shilo in his arms.

Wearing a slight frown, Leo went downstairs and walked over to join his genius brother. Shilo was asleep and there were no signs that he'd been distressed. The same could not be said of Donatello.

"What's wrong, Donnie? Couldn't Shilo sleep?" Leo said, slowly sitting down next to his brother.

Don sighed. "He's been asleep since we got back. I'm the one who can't."

"Why not?" Leo asked. "Does it have something to do with the fight we were in earlier?"

"Why would you ask that?" Don countered, blinking owlishly at his brother from behind his thick lenses.

"I saw what happened Donnie," Leo said. He could read the worry and unhappiness on his brother's face.

Don lowered his head. "Do you think Shilo will hate me for making him a turtle?"

"What made you even think that? No, he won't hate you," Leo said, surprised at the question.

"You can't know that," Don said. "I was thinking about what April said, that he'd want to know what happened to his mother when he gets older. He'll want to know the entire story."

"We'll tell it to him," Leo said. "We'll raise him with love and make sure he always has everything he needs."

"What happens if we're not around to raise him?" Don asked. "I can't even fight because I'm too worried about what happens to Shilo if I'm injured or killed. Look at me tonight, I couldn't focus on our mission."

Leo studied him for a moment and then asked quietly, "How do you feel when you hold Shilo?"

Don looked at the baby and Leo saw his face relax and the corners of his mouth turn up.

"You may have doubts," Leo said, "but the important thing is that you have no regrets."

"I've relegated him to a life where he has no options," Don said, meeting Leo's eyes once more. "I may have saved his life, but he'll never have a wife, or children . . . . "

"He still has family," Leo said. "He's not alone and we'll make sure he never is. No one, not even humans, have any guarantees in life. His birth mother chose a dangerous path and she might have taken him down it with her. At least with us he'll be happy and safe."

"We can give him that, right Leo?" Don asked, staring hopefully at his older brother.

"Of course we can," Leo said, gently touching the sleeping infant's cheek. He glanced up at Don. "Maybe we should hold off on going topside for a while, at least until things with Shilo normalize."

"No," Don said firmly. "No. I need to know what happened to his mother. I need to be able to give him answers when he asks for them."

Leo nodded his understanding. "We can at least hold off a day or two and give Casey time to investigate. This is an opportunity for him to prove to his bosses that he could be a good detective. I think he wants to prove something to us as well. Let's give him the chance."

"Okay," Don said. It wasn't hard to hear the relief in his voice. "It'll give us all time to bond with Shilo."

"I'd like that," Leo said with a smile. "Come on, let's put the both of you to bed."

Don carefully lowered Shilo into his box and stood up to stretch. It suddenly struck him that he was very tired.

"I could sleep for a week," Don admitted.

Leo picked up Shilo's box. "He probably won't let you do that," he said, chuckling. "Try to sleep in though. The rest of us can take care of Shilo."

"Will do," Don said, even though he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do that. Right at the moment he was too tired to give it any more thought and trudged off to bed alongside his brother.

TBC…..


	9. Chapter 9

Castoff  
part 9

Michelangelo slept with the teddy bear tucked under his chin. The little stuffed animal he'd gotten for Shilo was ultra-soft and made Mikey think of the precious baby as he fell asleep.

He kept the bear close for another reason as well; he wanted to ensure that it carried his scent. Mikey instinctively felt that Shilo would be comforted by the bear if it smelled like a turtle rather than whatever manufacturing plant had cranked it out.

It was probably the excitement of presenting the bear to Shilo that caused Mikey to wake earlier than his brothers. As he got out of bed, he heard Shilo just beginning to snuffle and move around.

Lifting the box Shilo was in, Mikey took him into the kitchen and quickly prepared a bottle of his formula. Carrying the box, the bottle, and the teddy bear, Mikey went into the living area.

After changing Shilo's diaper, Mikey fed him. While Shilo greedily sucked away at his bottle, Mikey began telling him stories. Most were tales of the family's adventures, with Mikey changing his voice to play out each of the different characters involved.

Shilo stared at Mikey the entire time, as though fascinated by the 'uncle' with the fluctuating voice. For his part, Mikey enjoyed having an audience who seemed to hang on his every word.

Donatello woke some time later and the first thing he did after putting on his glasses was to look down to where Shilo's box usually sat. Seeing that the baby was gone, he got up, noting that Mikey was also missing.

The murmur of his brother's voice drew Don down the stairs, but rather than going directly to the living area, Don silently worked his way around to his lab, stopping once he had a good view of Mikey.

His younger brother was leaning over Shilo, who lay on the couch next to him. Shilo's hand was on Mikey's cheek, his eyes glued to the hovering turtle's face. Mikey's arms were curved around Shilo and he appeared to be talking to the baby, though the words were too low for Don to hear.

It was a priceless scene and one Don was loath to interrupt. Mikey had been enamored of the baby turtle from the moment Shilo was mutated.

Of the four of them, Mikey had always been the one who was the least content with their secluded existence. Perhaps Shilo was fulfilling something for Mikey that he yearned for; a younger generation.

Mikey must have sensed his presence because he glanced up and grinned at his brother. Don walked over to join him.

"Look Don," Mikey said with a touch of glee in his voice, "he's smiling at me!"

"That's probably gas," Don replied, even though Shilo did seem to be smiling.

Mikey turned back to Shilo. "Mommy Donnie is jealous," he said in a sing-song voice. "You're giving me all your smiles and he can't have any."

"'Mommy'? How did I get that moniker?" Don asked.

"You're totally this little guy's mom," Mikey said as he tickled Shilo under his chin. "You gave him the breath of life."

"I gave him my blood," Don said.

"Same thing," Mikey said. "Point is, you gave him a part of you so that makes you his mother."

"I'm a guy, Mikey," Don said. "Wouldn't I be his dad?"

"Nope," Mikey answered, rubbing the teddy bear against Shilo's tummy. "Leo feels more like the Daddy type. I'm the fun uncle and Raph's the gruff uncle."

"Did the fun uncle feed his nephew?" Don asked.

"I fed him," Mikey said. "I also changed him twice. Now I know why he needs a bottle so often. Everything goes right through him."

"That's normal," Don told him. "I can't believe he's only a couple of days old. His muscle development seems a bit more advanced than that of a human baby's."

"'Cause he's awesome. Right Shilo? You're awesome and better than any other baby," Mikey crooned.

"And Uncle Mikey will not teach you to call me 'Mom'," Don said. "Not unless Uncle Mikey wants to be my next science experiment."

"Fair enough," Mikey said quickly. "Shilo can have two dads, two uncles, one aunt, and one grandfather. We have to figure out titles for Casey and Vern."

"I know what we can call them," Raph said as he walked over.

"We have to be able to say them in front of the baby," Mikey replied.

Raph grinned. "How is the little guy this morning?"

"Well fed," Don said. "We should probably give him a bath today."

Mikey's eyes lit up. "Ooh, ooh, I want to do it!"

"We'll do it together," Don said. He appreciated Mikey's enthusiasm, but some instinct made Don want to be included in each of Shilo's 'firsts'.

"Does anyone want breakfast?" Leo called from the kitchen.

Scooping Shilo into his arms, Mikey stood up and walked towards the kitchen, followed by Raph and Don.

"I'm giving Shilo a bath," Mikey announced.

"After we eat," Leo said, standing at the railing and waving a spatula at him. "Scrambled eggs."

"So what do we do, Donnie? Dunk him in the tide pool?" Raph asked.

"No Raph, he's a baby," Don said, striving for patience. "We'll use the kitchen sink and fill it with clean, warm water. There's a bottle of baby wash amongst the things April brought us."

"Ya' gotta use a special kind of soap?" Raph asked.

"A baby's skin dries out easily, so you have to use something that won't irritate it," Don answered. "There are also impurities that only a specialized cleanser will remove."

Raph gave his brother an incredulous look. "Did Master Splinter have to do all of that for us?"

"Yes I did, Raphael," Master Splinter said, appearing suddenly. "I did not have all of the niceties that April has provided, so I made do with a bar of soap. You were often displeased with the temperature of the bath water, but that I could not help."

"Raph, come help me with the toast," Leo called out as he pushed a pile of eggs around in a skillet. "You know the toaster doesn't like me."

"Ya' just don't have the right kind of delicate touch," Raph teased, climbing the stairs.

"You get that kind of touch from knitting, right Raph?" Mikey asked with a mischievous grin.

"Shut up," Raph responded good-naturedly.

"Good morning, Shilo," Master Splinter said, gently squeezing one of the infant's chubby legs.

"Good morning Grandpa," Mikey replied in a mock baby voice.

The sound of Mikey's voice against the side of his face made Shilo lift his head before dropping it back onto his uncle's shoulder.

"Did you see that?" Don asked his father. "He appears to have more muscle control than is normal for an infant who is only two days old. Did we develop at that rate?"

"I had no frame of reference for mutant turtles, but you all did develop at a good pace," Master Splinter said. "Your speed and coordination at an early age was astonishing."

"They grow so fast," Mikey said with a sigh. "Before you know it, he'll be sparring with nunchucks against his favorite uncle."

"You've hit yourself in the head with those 'chucks too many times if you think he's following in _your_ footsteps, Mikey," Raph said. "Besides, _I'm_ gonna be his favorite uncle."

"How about we sit down to a good family breakfast and fight over Shilo later," Leo said as he began piling eggs onto plates.

"Spoken like a true dad," Mikey said as he went up to the kitchen still clutching Shilo against his chest.

Leo shook his head, setting plates in front of Mikey and Master Splinter. Mikey ate using one hand, the other keeping Shilo against his shoulder during the meal. Don buttered toast for him, slapping on a large helping of jelly at his brother's request.

Once breakfast was over, Don ran water into the sink, testing the temperature against the inside of his wrist. Raph fetched the baby wash while Leo helped Mikey remove Shilo's clothes and diaper.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, Don and Mikey gave Shilo his first bath. Leo stood just behind Mikey, using an old camcorder that Don had repaired in order to record the event.

Shilo was very at ease in the bath, cooing as his family cleaned every crevice of his small body. While Mikey supported Shilo's body, Don used a toothbrush to gently cleanse his carapace.

When Don took Shilo out of the water and turned, he found Raph waiting there with a towel. Wrapping the baby so he would stay warm, Raph lowered him onto the table that had been cleared of breakfast things. After thoroughly drying Shilo, Raph diapered him and then Leo dressed him in clean pajamas.

Master Splinter looked on, a smile on his face as he watched his sons minister to their tiny new family member. As with most things they did, caring for the child was a team effort.

Shilo was clearly sleepy at that point and Raph cradled him in one large arm, carrying him to his box and placing him inside. The baby fell fast asleep.

Leaving him in the living area, the brothers went about their daily routine. They had a practice session and then Don checked his computers to see if any Foot or Bebop and Rocksteady activity had been observed during the night.

When Shilo woke later, fussing about a dirty diaper, Leo changed him. Raph prepared his bottle and handed it to Leo, who had been waiting on the couch with the infant.

While Leo was feeding Shilo, April and Casey arrived. They brought with them pizza and one very large box.

"What's that?" Mikey asked, tossing the pizza onto a kitchen table.

"Thank you for the pizza April," Don said, glancing pointedly at his younger brother.

"Oh yeah, thanks April," Mikey said dutifully. "What's in the box?"

"It's a bassinet," Vern said, walking into the lair with another large box in his arms. "Thanks for waiting for me guys."

"You'll have to put the bassinet together," April said. "I got one with rollers and a handle for easy carrying since this place has stairs."

Setting his box down, Vern asked, "Where is this miracle baby turtle?"

"He's on the couch with Leo, having his lunch," Don said.

The trio of humans walked with him into the living area. Leo smiled at them in greeting and Vern swooped down next to him on the couch.

"Wow," Vern said, leaning over to stare at the infant. "He really is a baby turtle. I thought April was pulling my leg when she told me. How did this happen?"

"It was the unintended consequences of a blood transfusion," Leo said. "Don used his blood to save the baby's life, but it also mutated him."

"He's a cute little guy," Vern said. "Can I . . . can I hold him?"

"Sure," Leo said, carefully transferring Shilo and his bottle over to Vern.

"Who's a good little boy? Who's a good little hungry boy?" Vern murmured, expertly balancing the baby while feeding him.

"Wow Vern, I never knew you were so good with babies," April said with surprise.

Vern tossed her a cocky grin. "I've got nieces and nephews. From the loins of the Fenwick clan, greatness is born."

"And then there's you," Raph said. "Gotta be an exception to every rule."

Casey rubbed his hands together. "Let's get this baby thing put together. By the way, I picked up two vehicles at auction today. The transmission is shot on the car and the truck needs an overhaul and some body work. I can haul them both here tonight if you've got a place where I can put them."

"There are four work spaces off of the garage tunnel," Don said. "We can park the vehicles in them."

"Are they big enough?" Casey asked.

"Yes," Don said. "I made them specifically to house a collection of vehicles. The turtle van is parked in one of them."

Raph brought both boxes into the clear space next to the living area. Between him and Leo, they got them open and began to empty the contents.

"Are there supposed to be this many parts?" Leo asked in disbelief.

"Here," Raph said, handing the instructions to Donatello. "Read off how we put this thing together."

"Pizza's getting cold," Mikey said.

"We'll eat after we finish with the bassinet," Leo said. "How long could it possibly take?"

Thereafter followed the funniest thing April thought she had ever seen. While Vern and Master Splinter watched over Shilo, the other five guys labored to assemble the bassinet.

"I've got it", "That doesn't go there", "Is that part supposed to stick up like that?", "Don't force it!", "I don't think we're supposed to have leftover pieces," "I can't find the thingy-ma-bob", "You're doing it wrong," "No, no, not like that!", "Will you please listen?", "For the love of … just stick it in there!", "You're a genius, figure this out!", "You jabbed my hand!", "Seriously, I think that's upside down."

Ten minutes into the comedy of errors, April noticed the camcorder. Snatching it up, she began to record the scene, trying not to laugh too hard in order to keep the camera steady.

"Don't you guys think this might be a case of too many cooks in the kitchen?" Vern finally asked.

Raph growled, dropping the piece he was holding and getting up off his knees. "If ya' think ya' can do it, help yourself."

"Okay kids, step aside," Vern said, walking over to the work area and stripping off his jacket. "Let me see those instructions."

Don handed them to him and after quickly scanning the page, Vern set to work. Within twelve minutes he had assembled the bassinet.

Casey and the four turtles stood around him, their mouth's hanging open. They had spent the better part of an hour trying to put the thing together.

Even April was impressed. "Way to go, Vern."

Vern shrugged. "I told you I had nieces and nephews. I've had practice," he said with false modesty.

"Ya' could have told us that an hour ago," Raph grumbled.

"What? And spoil your fun?" Vern countered with a smug grin.

"Can we eat now?" Mikey asked.

"Warm up the pizza," Leo said.

Mikey dashed off to the kitchen and Don took Shilo from his father. "You've got a new bed," Don told the baby. "Let's try it out."

Casey pushed the carrying handle down as Don lowered Shilo into the bassinet. The bassinet had rolling casters and Leo made sure they were locked. There was a storage basket underneath, an electronic mobile with spinning toys, a canopy, and a skirt. It looked vastly out of place in the lair and was a stark reminder of just how much the mutant family's lives had changed.

Shilo lay on the small mattress staring up at the mobile. Since there were no batteries in it yet, it wasn't moving, but somehow the three plush animals held his attention.

"You'll need batteries for the mobile," April said. "I've got some in my bag. It also has a built in night light, and the control not only makes the animals turn, but there's a button that can gently rock the bassinet from side to side or make it vibrate. It also plays music."

"Geez, I'm surprised it doesn't feed and change the baby too," Raph said.

Casey turned to Don. "What time do you want me to deliver those vehicles? I can't leave them parked . . . ."

Before he could finish the sentence, Shilo began to cry. Leo reached into the bassinet and felt his diaper.

"He's wet," Leo announced. "Time for a change."

"Don't look at me," Raph said quickly. "I told ya' I don't do dirty diapers. I will go get the supplies though."

Leo and Don changed Shilo's diaper while he lay in the bassinet. While they did that, Raph placed extra diapers and other related items into the storage basket underneath. April took some clothing from bags and folded them to fit into the remaining space.

Now dry and clean, Shilo quieted down. "I think we're getting the hang of this," Leo said.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Shilo began to wail.

"Ya' just had to jinx it," Raph said.

"He finished a meal only a short time ago," Master Splinter called out. "Perhaps he has gas."

"I got this," Raph said, lifting Shilo from the bassinet. Laying the baby plastron down on his arm, he gave Shilo's carapace a few firm thumps and received a nice pair of burps in return.

"Back into the bassinet," Don said. "He has to learn to fall asleep without us having to hold him."

"Someone's been doing his research," April teased as Raph lowered Shilo into his new bed.

"Does around eleven work for you?" Don asked Casey. "The street near the tunnel entrance should be clear enough by then."

"How are ya' hauling them in?" Raph asked.

"I'm pulling the car with the truck," Casey said. "I hope. Be on stand-by in case the truck breaks down."

"We can pull both of them with the garbage . . . ." Leo began.

Shilo's loud cries interrupted him. As one, the group stared into the bassinet, watching as Shilo's face reddened and his wailing cry vibrated his tiny tongue.

"What the hell's wrong now?" Raph asked of no one in particular.

"Let's try this," April said as she attempted to coax Shilo into taking a pacifier. He refused to latch on despite her efforts.

"He's overstimulated," Vern said. "Too much activity, too many people . . . uh, and turtles."

"I swear I'm gonna use my sai to puncture my own ear drums," Raph announced.

Mikey was in the process of removing the warmed pizza from the oven. Staring at the food lovingly, he tossed a glance towards the group surrounding the crying infant. Torn by indecision for several minutes, he finally gave up, saluted the pizza, and jogged down to the living area.

Scooping up the teddy bear, Mikey went over to the bassinet and tucked the stuffed animal in next to Shilo. Leaning over the bassinet, Mikey began to rock it gently and sing.

In seconds Shilo stopped crying and his little eyes closed. Lifting one hand, Mikey shooed everyone away from the bassinet.

"Figures that one kid would know how to soothe the other," Raph said, going up to the kitchen.

"Save him some pizza or we'll never hear the end of it," Leo told him.

They didn't have to worry about saving him any because in a few minutes Mikey joined them. Plopping into a chair, he stacked two slices of pizza atop each other, sprinkled them with hot sauce, and took a big bite.

"He's asleep," Mikey said, talking around a mouth full of food.

Leo heated a bowl of leftover rice and gave it to Master Splinter before helping himself to pizza. "Thanks for the bassinet, April. Once we get these two vehicles fixed and sold, we'll be able to start paying you back."

"No hurry, my credit cards can stand the strain for a little while," April said.

"You know, since I uh, have money from my 'Falcon' merchandise, I can buy Shilo some of the things he needs," Vern said. "I sort of owe you guys anyway."

"Ya' think?" Raph asked.

"He could use a changing table and a crib," April said. "We'll go shopping together so I can make sure you get the right ones."

"We're a great family for Shilo, aren't we? We're not messing him up or anything and we're actually pretty good at this, right?" Mikey asked out of the blue.

Don's brow furrowed as he looked at his younger brother. "Of course we are. Why would you even ask that?"

"I mean, we're proving we can handle having a baby," Mikey said. "I wonder how many other babies are out there that are unwanted, or sick, or have some kind of thing wrong with them that's gonna kill them. Couldn't we save some more of them?"

The group fell silent, all of them staring at Mikey with varying expressions of disbelief. It was clear from his question that Mikey wanted a baby born of his blood too.

"My son, most of these ailing children are in hospitals," Master Splinter said, setting a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Would it be good if we could rescue them from death? The answer is of course yes. Your heart is in the right place, but I am afraid another such opportunity as we have experienced with Shilo may never present itself."

Mikey sighed. "Yeah, I know. But if it did, you'd be okay with it, wouldn't you Sensei?"

"To watching my family grow?" Master Splinter asked. "How could I ever argue with that? Look around you at the extended family we have now. It is a blessing."

"Family is everything," Raph said.

Leo nodded, lifting his glass of water. "Family."

"To family," the others replied, touching their glasses all around.

Shilo snorted in his sleep, as if in agreement, and dozed on.

TBC….


	10. Chapter 10

Castoff  
part 10

Shortly after their human friends left, the turtles, who were used to sleeping during the day, went to bed. With the bassinet next to his alcove in the bedroom, both Don and Shilo slept more soundly.

The height of the portable bed meant that Don simply had to turn his head to check on Shilo. The baby turtle seemed comforted at having Don so much closer to him. Mikey had already shown them how important scent was to the infant.

Whatever the reasons, Donatello slept deeply and for longer than was usual for him. He woke with a start, his first thoughts centered on Shilo.

When he looked over though, baby and bassinet were gone.

Worried, Don scrambled out of bed, chiding himself for not hearing his child. He crossed the bedroom swiftly in order to peer over the rail into the open section of the lair.

Right away he saw the bassinet sitting next to the closed off pipe that stood in the center of that space. Standing atop it was Leonardo, going through his daily routine, his swords flashing through the air.

Now Don knew why he hadn't heard anything. Leo probably woke as soon as Shilo began to stir. Moving silently, big brother had scooped up the baby, bassinet and all.

Don wasn't exactly thrilled at seeing the bassinet that close to Leo's flying swords. He knew his brother never dropped them, but there was a first time for everything.

It wasn't until Don had gone downstairs that he saw his father seated on the couch with Shilo on his lap. He was bracing the baby with one arm and reading to him from a book he held in the other hand.

Shilo was sucking on a pacifier, his eyes focused on Master Splinter's face. The baby seemed totally enraptured by the soothing sound of his grandfather's voice. Every so often, Shilo would reach out to grab at the ends of Master Splinter's 'mustache', but the old rat had plenty of experience in dodging curious fingers.

Leo stopped spinning and leaping to address his brother as Don approached. "Hey Donnie. Shilo's already been fed and changed."

"When did he wake up?" Don asked.

"About an hour and a half ago," Leo answered. "I didn't see any point in interrupting your sleep."

"Thanks," Don said. He watched Master Splinter for a few minutes, unaware that Leo was watching him.

"You're not doing this by yourself," Leo told him, keeping his voice low.

Don glanced up. "I know I'm not. I can't help but feel an extra responsibility though. I am the one who gave him a transfusion without really thinking through the possible ramifications."

"And if you had?" Leo asked, squatting down so that he was on an eye level with Don. "What would you have done differently?"

"Probably nothing," Don said with a smile. The wisdom Leo often displayed was one of the reasons why, though they were most likely all the same age, he was considered the oldest.

Hopping down, Leo asked, "Did you and Casey decide on a time?"

Nodding, Don said, "He's bringing the vehicles at around midnight."

"He's supposed to call if the truck breaks down so we can go rescue his ass," Raph said. He was standing at the kitchen railing, looking down at his brothers. "I'm gonna heat up some chili. Who's hungry so I know how many cans to open?"

"Make enough for all of us," Leo answered.

The smell of cooking woke Mikey, who produced a couple of bags of corn chips to go with the chili. After they'd finished eating and cleaning up, Shilo showed signs of being hungry. Leo prepared his bottle and then sat down to feed the baby so that Don could spend some time at his computers.

Leo had just put Shilo down for a nap when Casey called to tell them he was five minutes away and for someone to open the hidden door that would give him access to the garage tunnel.

Raph jogged down the tunnel and had the door open just as Casey arrived. April was in the truck with him, and the truck bed was loaded down with boxes. After closing the door, Raph hopped onto the truck's back bumper and directed Casey to the work spaces that they would use as they made repairs to the vehicles.

"What the heck is all this stuff?" Raph asked after they got the truck situated.

"April and Vern bought out Ikea," Casey said with a laugh. "She wrangled him into making good on his offer to buy baby furniture."

"He's making a huge profit off of being the 'Falcon'," April said with a toss of her head. "I've decided we'll use his money for anything the baby might need in the future."

Raph chuckled as he walked back to the lair with their friends. "If he knows what's good for him, he won't even try arguing with ya'."

Mikey met them as they came up the stairs, a finger to his lips. "Shilo's asleep," he said. "He likes noise, but not too much."

"We'll keep it down," Casey assured him. "Where's Don?"

"On his computer looking up faces," Mikey said.

"I have some news on that front," Casey said as he walked over to Donatello's computer station.

"The men in the car and the ones waiting to ambush you are all in the same gang," Don said without looking up from his computer.

"The Mala Noche," Casey said.

That drew Don's eyes off of the screen. "Exactly. How did you know?"

Casey pointed at the badge hanging from his belt. "Cop, remember? That gang is controlling the entire area."

"If you need names, I've got the ones for the men we encountered, along with their faces," Don said, grabbing a stack of paper off his printer.

"This will help," Casey said. "The homicide detectives aren't thrilled to have me tagging along on their investigation, so they're sharing as little as they can get away with. They haven't directly connected Colón to the Mala Noche, but after the reception I got, I'll bet that gang has something to do with her death."

"The man you talked to is Hector Guerra," Don said. "He's got a pretty thick file in the police department's data base."

"I heard the guys discussing him," Casey said as he flipped through the pages Don had given him so he could look at Guerra's picture. "He took over as gang leader when their other leader disappeared a year ago."

"Maybe he had something to do with their old boss disappearing," Raph said.

Casey nodded. "They demand loyalty, but any show of weakness gets you dead quick."

"Would you say that if anyone would have knowledge of what happened to Colón, it would be Guerra?" April asked.

"I don't think anything happens in that neighborhood that Guerra doesn't know about," Casey said.

"Are the detectives planning to talk to him?" Leo asked.

"They'll go to him," Casey said. "We have nothing on him right now, so we can't invite him to the station. He'd decline."

"I should talk to him," April said. "My boss assigned the Colón story to me. They want an exposé on the deaths in East Harlem because residents have been complaining that no one cares when one of theirs is killed."

"That's a very bad idea, April," Casey said, frowning at her. "These people are dangerous."

"More dangerous than Shredder and the Foot?" April asked. "I'm a reporter, Casey. Dealing with dangerous situations and people is what I do. Anyway, for the most part, people don't bother reporters. They either talk to us or refuse, they don't shoot us."

"Then I'll go with you," Casey said. "I have questions too."

"He wouldn't talk to me if you're there," April said. "He already knows you're a cop."

"Were you able to learn anything during your neighborhood canvas?" Leo asked. "That is, if the detectives allowed you to participate."

"They didn't want to, but Chief Vincent made it clear they couldn't cold shoulder me," Case said. "We turned up zip on the canvas, which I expected. The residents might complain to the media that we don't help them, but they don't help themselves either. No one will talk."

"Ya' gotta expect that," Raph said. "Most of them are good, everyday folks with no way to defend themselves if a bunch of hoods bust into their homes as payback for opening their mouths."

"I realize that, Raph. It's just frustrating," Casey said. "I did find out from Yvette that Colón was killed with a .32 caliber Colt automatic. The bullet was full metal jacketed, so the entry wound was small and the bullet was still in her head. There's enough intact rifling detail to be able to match it to a specific gun, if we can find one to use in a comparison."

"I don't think the killer would keep the gun," Mikey said. "I mean, wouldn't they know the cops would track her back to the neighborhood that the gang controls?" When the group stared at him, Mikey asked, "What? You think I don't watch TV?"

"Mikey has a point," Casey said. "Most of the time the gangs use either a library gun or a throwaway."

"What's a library gun?" Raph asked.

"It's one that's shared by every member of the gang," Casey said. "The guns are kept in a particular location, one that the police will be hard pressed to find. If someone needs a gun, they check it out of the 'library'. After they've used it, they return it to the library. Makes it hard to find the gun and if we do, hard to pin it to one particular person."

"Did Colón have a cell phone?" Don asked.

It was a quick change of subject, but Casey was used to how Don's mind worked. "Yes she did, it was on her body. The detectives have pulled her call log, but it wasn't helpful."

"She probably had another phone then," Don said. "If she was involved with the gang, they would have made sure she had one that couldn't be traced to her."

"How do we find that one?" April asked.

"I'd guess that she had both the night she dumped Shilo," Don said. "If I triangulate the location of the phone we know about to a particular cell tower, I can find every other phone that also pinged off of that tower."

"What's that mean in English?" Raph asked.

"That he can find her other phone," Leo said.

"That I might be able to find exactly where she was killed," Don said, his fingers dancing across his keyboard.

From behind them the group heard Shilo begin to fuss. Don's hands stopped moving as soon as he heard the baby.

"Keep doing your thing, Donnie," April said, touching him lightly on the shoulder. "I'll take care of Shilo."

Don turned back to his screens, tossing up a string of phone numbers onto one of them. On another he began matching the numbers to people.

"The force would kill to have him in our forensics unit," Casey muttered to Leo.

"They have too many rules," Don said, his eyes locked on the various computer screens.

"The only rules Donnie follows are Master Splinter's and Leo's," Raph said. "Sometimes he don't even listen to Dad's."

Leo snorted but left it alone. He knew his brother had one particular instance in mind, but that was long over and done with.

"You need any help, April?" Mikey asked as he joined her at the bassinet.

"He just needs a diaper change," April said as she expertly stripped off his bottoms and the soiled diaper.

Mikey handed her a baby wipe and as she leaned down to cleanse Shilo, he reached up and grabbed a fistful of her hair.

"Ow!" April exclaimed. "He's got quite a grip."

Chuckling, Mikey helped extract her hair from Shilo's fingers. "Yeah, we're learning to keep our mask tails away from him. Master Splinter's had his fur tugged on a few times."

"I've found her other phone," Don said. "At least, I'm fairly certain this is her second one. She was talking to someone on the phone the police found when a call came in on the other. This was the night she died. As soon as she disconnected from the first call, the other one was answered. There was only one other call active during that time."

April was holding Shilo when she rejoined them. His head lay on her shoulder, his eyes partially closed as he drifted back to sleep.

"Where was she?" Casey asked, leaning in to look at the map Don had pulled up.

"The park," Raph said, looking at the map as well. "She was in Marcus Garvey Park."

"So was the other caller," Don said. "Let me see if I can find out who that phone belongs to."

"Probably her killer," Leo guessed.

A line of code rolled across the smallest screen, Don's eyes glued to the information. In another minute he sat back abruptly, his mouth dropping open.

"Ya' got something or not?" Raph demanded.

"I've got something," Don said. "I've got the name."

"Don't keep us in suspense, Donnie," Mikey said. "Who belongs to that phone?"

"Guerra," Don said. "She was talking to Hector Guerra."

TBC…


	11. Chapter 11

Castoff  
part 11

"It was him," Raph growled. "That bastard murdered Shilo's mother."

"Raphael, language," Master Splinter admonished.

"Go arrest him, Casey," Mikey demanded, his blue eyes full of indignation.

"I wish it worked that way, Mikey. All we have right now is what we call circumstantial evidence," Casey said. "There's not even enough of that to pull him in for questioning. We have to connect that second phone to Colón in order to show that she and Guerra knew each other."

"Can't you suggest to your techs that they do what Donnie just did?" April asked.

"I could, but that only shows that there were three phones in the park at the same time of night," Casey said. "It doesn't put that second phone in Colón's hands."

"This is frustrating as hell," Raph said.

"It would help if we could find the second phone," Leo said. "My guess is it's either in pieces or at the bottom of the river. Did anyone search the park?"

"No," Casey said, rubbing his chin. "They searched every inch of the alley where Colón left the bloody newspaper and they canvassed for several blocks all around it, but no one connected the park to her."

"Then let's go search it," Raph said. "It's the middle of the night, nobody else will be there. At least not anybody with a good reason to be out this late."

"Marcus Garvey Park is comprised of over twenty acres of land, Raph," Don said. "There's rocky outcroppings, a watchtower, a rec center, a swimming pool . . . ."

"Yeah, yeah, I get the idea," Raph said. "You're the brains of this outfit, Donnie. Ain't ya' got some gizmo that can find other gizmos like phones?"

"Not if the phone isn't on," Don said. "I've already checked for that and I also checked to see if it was the type that could be turned on remotely. It's not, which leads me to believe it's a cheap burner phone."

"We have to do something," Mikey said. "How about a metal detector?" He looked at Don. "Do we have a metal detector?"

"We do not," Don said. "Besides, the rocky outcroppings in the park are made of schist, which would give us false readings."

"Then eyeballs," Raph said, waving his hands. "Hell, we can just look around the corner of the park closest to 120th and Mount Morris Park West. That's where the cameras lost her."

"Guerra and his gang were probably cruising those streets the way they were last night when he accosted Casey," Leo said. "If one of his gang saw Colón on the street, they'd have notified him."

"That's why he's in the park at the same time she is," Casey said. "I think Raph's right. I'll bet she saw the car drive by and ran into the park to hide. When he called her, he was probably getting out of his car to go after her."

Don raised a finger and stood up slowly, a sure indication he'd had an idea. "I can't track the phone, but I'll bet I can find the spot where Colón was shot. It hasn't rained since her murder, so the chemical elements of the gunshot residue should still be there. I can reconfigure my particle analyzer as a scanning electron microscopy device. If I get a reading that tells me lead, antimony, and barium are all present in one location, then that's where she was killed."

"We really need about ten of him on the force," Casey said to no one in particular.

"Why are we standing around?" Raph asked. "Let's go find something. Maybe we'll get lucky and Guerra will show up again."

He accentuated that statement by plunging a fist into his palm.

"Just leave enough of him for Casey to arrest," Leo said mildly.

"I'm coming with you," April said. She had put a sleeping Shilo into his bassinet and rolled it into the warmth of the TV room.

"This is a police matter," Casey said, "and it's too . . . ."

"It's my story," April snapped without letting him finish the sentence.

"One you should investigate during daylight hours," Leo said. "If shooting starts we don't need for you to catch a bullet."

Don spoke before April could argue further. "I hate to ask this of you again, but could you help Master Splinter watch Shilo? If something happened, if they needed to leave the lair quickly . . . ."

He didn't need to finish. April pressed her lips together as she eyed him, and then relaxed with a sigh.

"I'll stay," April said, "but if you guys find out anything you'd better not hold out on me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Casey said.

"We know better," Mikey added with a grin.

Before any of them could move, one of Donatello's computers started to beep loudly. Sitting down quickly, Don rolled his chair closer to the desk and punched in a command that transferred a map from a smaller screen to one of the large ones.

"I'm getting an alert from the program I set up to monitor for food thefts," Don said, tapping the screen to enlarge a location on the map. "This one's coming from a food distribution warehouse near Pier 78. It has to be Bebop and Rocksteady. If they follow their new pattern, they'll hit at least two more places tonight."

"We'll have to split up," Leo said without hesitation. "Don and I will go to the park with Casey. Raph, you and Mikey take the Turtle Van and head to the pier. If you find that pair, do not engage them. Recon only. See if you can follow them back to wherever they've been hiding. With luck, they'll lead you to Karai and or Stockman. We want all of them."

"Then what are we supposed to do, babysit them?" Raph asked, sounding none too pleased.

"We take them down as a team, Raph," Leo said. "You and Mikey can't catch them all. The more backup you have, the better the chance that we scoop up the whole bunch."

"Hey, let's not forget that they're wanted by the New York City police department," Casey said. "Chief Vincent has them sitting right at the top of the most wanted list. She'll want to be a part of that raid."

"There ain't gonna be a raid if we don't move our asses," Raph said.

Rather than heading directly for the garbage truck, Don dashed over to glance into the bassinet. Raph eyed him with concern, and then pulled Leo aside.

"Ya' watch his shell," Raph said. "His head ain't all the way in the game; half of it's in there with the kid."

"I will," Leo said. "We have to make allowances until he gets used to this."

"Maybe we do, but the gangs out there don't give a flip about his maternal instincts," Raph said, before jogging off to catch up to Mikey.

On his way back to join Leo and Casey, Don stopped next to April and said, "If something happens while we're gone, let Master Splinter handle the situation and you concentrate on getting Shilo to safety, all right?"

April's expression shifted from the slight annoyance she felt at being left behind to one of sympathetic understanding. "I thought you were just trying to keep me from going with you guys, but you really are worried about Shilo's safety."

"It's all I do seem to be able to think about," Don said, striding off when Leo called to him.

Master Splinter walked over to stand next to April as his sons sped off in two different directions.

"I dislike it when they are forced to split up," Master Splinter said, sounding much calmer than April felt.

"I'm sure they'll be careful," April told him despite having misgivings of her own.

The nice thing about having a converted garbage truck as transportation was they could park it almost anywhere and it wouldn't look out of place. There were a number of business establishments near the park and Leo backed the truck into an alley between two of them.

There was a posted closing time for the park which most citizens heeded. As the two turtles and Casey entered the park, they were reasonably certain no one would see them.

Using his wrist mounted system controller, Don displayed a holographic image of the readings from the new SEM device he'd configured while Leo drove. They searched the corner of the park where they felt Colón and Guerra had met. While Casey and Leo combed the area for anything that might connect the two, Don slowly swept his arm back and forth, watching the readouts.

After nearly a quarter of an hour, Leo asked, "Are you getting anything, Donnie?"

"A lot of different readings, but not in the proper combination," Don said. "Maybe it's been too long, or this isn't where it happened."

"Or maybe he snatched her up and took her somewhere else," Casey said. "It was worth a try though. Here's an idea, I'll admit to the detectives that I was snooping on my own and was accosted by Guerra. That'll get their eyes on him and . . . ."

"I've got something!" Don sang out excitedly. He was moving in a direct line towards a stand of trees and underbrush. "It's gunshot residue. The levels are climbing."

Casey and Leo had to jog to catch up to the long-legged turtle. Don pushed past a hedge, coming out in a small clearing where he stopped.

"Is this the spot?" Leo asked.

Don squatted, his arm over an area carpeted with leaves. "I'm getting the highest readings right here."

"She saw him coming and tried to hide," Casey said, looking around him. "Guerra spotted Colón before she could get out of sight."

"She knew her best chance was to duck down and hope he wouldn't come in here to search for her," Leo said, picking up the thread of Casey's thoughts. "Every other direction would have taken her out into the open."

"He knew it too and when she disappeared, he knew exactly where'd she'd gone," Casey said. "I can't even imagine her terror when she saw him burst through the bushes."

"There's blood here," Don said. "Not much, but it's on the leaves. They've been kicked over. That probably happened when he picked her up after shooting her."

"Pretty bold," Leo said.

"He thinks he owns the neighborhood," Casey said. "I doubt that anyone even looks out of their windows after dark. His men were no doubt following in a car and he carried her body over to it."

"Seems like the biggest chance he took was transporting her, transferring her to another car, and then dumping her," Leo said. "He risked getting stopped by police anywhere along his route and having to explain the dead body."

"Bah, it's all speculation," Casey griped. "What I wouldn't give for some good solid . . . ."

Once more he was interrupted by Donatello. "There's a trail of gunshot residue going from here towards the street."

He was moving as he spoke, his eyes on the holographic image displayed in front of him. A short fence separated the park from the sidewalk and street and Don easily hopped over it.

"Donnie," Leo warned, knowing his brother was oblivious at the moment to the fact he had moved out into the open.

"It's here, it's here," Don said breathlessly.

"What's here?" Leo asked, coming alongside his brother.

"The gun!" Don exclaimed.

He was pointing towards a curbside storm drain.

"Are you kidding me?" Casey asked rhetorically. Stepping into the street, he knelt down and peered into the storm drain. "Dammit, it's too far. I can't see anything."

"We can access it from inside the drainage system," Leo said.

"Guerra didn't want to get caught with the body and the gun," Casey said as he stood up. "If we can get one print, just one print off that weapon, the ballistics will tie Guerra to Colón's murder."

"I would have thought he'd try to come back for it," Leo said. "Do you think that's what he intended to do last night before he saw you?"

Before Casey could respond, the group heard the loud wail of a woman in distress. The sound was coming from an apartment complex directly opposite the park.

Casey started running towards the disturbance. The turtles were mere flashes of color as they darted across the street and bounded onto the side of the building. They were on the roof by the time Casey turned the corner to find the source of the crying.

"My baby! Give me back my baby!" a woman screamed from atop the stairs leading into the entrance of the apartment complex.

"Shut up, bitch!" Guerra barked. He was near the bottom of the stairs, an infant cradled in his arms. "I know that puta left my baby with you!"

"I don't know who you mean," the woman said, coming down the stairs, her arms outstretched. "He's mine, I have the birth certificate."

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stop lying," Guerra snapped.

"Give the woman her baby," Casey said as he approached the scene. "That is not your son."

Guerra glanced over his shoulder at a group of men standing near an SUV. "It's the cop from last night," he told them, sounding amused. Looking back at Casey, he said, "You must be lost again."

"Actually, I'm thinking you are," Casey said. "Going into other people's homes and taking their children? That is not the way to make friends."

"So what's it to you?" Guerra asked. The baby began to cry and the man frowned at it.

"That infant wants its mother," Casey said. "Its _real_ mother. Do I need to call for a squad to come down here and help sort this out?"

"Give me my son," the woman said. "Please. He has nothing to do with you."

"Maybe I can fix it so you don't got time to call anyone," Guerra said, glaring at Casey.

"You want to take me on, come ahead," Casey said. "Don't expect help from your backup, something seems to be happening to them."

Guerra's head whipped around. Where there had been five men, there were now only three. The remaining men spun on their heels as they looked for their missing colleagues. They were clearly surprised that two men had vanished.

"Javier, where did they go?" Guerra demanded of one of the men.

"I don't know, Hector," the man answered.

"I'm not alone, Hector," Casey said, his tone mild. When Guerra turned back to him, scowling, Casey added, "Believe me, he is not your child. Give him back to his mother."

Very slowly, Guerra walked up to the woman and placed the crying baby into her arms. Once she had a firm hold on her child, she raced back inside the building and slammed the door shut.

Guerra was glaring at Casey as he walked back down the stairs. His expression suddenly became calculating. Facing Casey, he said, "There was no way to tell if that was a boy or girl. How did you know that I was looking for my son?"

Rather than answer him, Casey said, "Don't come back here again. The baby you're looking for isn't anywhere in this neighborhood."

"What do you know about it, cop?" Guerra asked.

"I know that Lia was pregnant," Casey said. "I also know she's dead."

"I heard she had an accident," Guerra said with an ugly smile. "Shame too, she was good looking woman once."

"Why'd you kill her?" Casey asked.

"Me? I didn't kill her," Guerra said with false innocence. "Funny thing, stuff just sort of happens to people who cross me. Are you gonna cross me, cop?"

"Don't you doubt it," Casey said, stepping closer so he could get right into Guerra's face. "I'm not a defenseless woman."

"Where's my kid?" Guerra's eyes were unblinking as he and Casey locked gazes. "The cops ain't got him 'cause I would have heard. You know where he is, don't you?"

Guerra's hand crept towards the gun he had tucked into his waistband. From the shadows, Leo and Don braced themselves for an inevitable fight, hoping that Casey knew Guerra was going for his weapon.

Just as the pair of turtles prepared to move, the screeching of tires made them duck back into hiding. A van slid around the corner, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the street.

A logo on the side of the van proclaimed that it belonged to Channel 6 News. The passenger door flew open and April hopped out of the van, microphone in her hand.

Vern came running around from behind the van, holding a camera. He slipped into place just behind and to the right of April as she stopped next to Guerra.

"Hector Guerra, I'm April O'Neil from Channel 6," April said. "What can you tell me about a woman named Lia Colón? Did you know that she'd been murdered?"

She shoved the microphone at Guerra who stepped back and grimaced.

"Get out of my face," Guerra said, pushing the microphone away. Continuing to walk backwards, he told Casey, "We ain't finished, cop. Not by a long shot."

"Mr. Guerra, could you answer a couple of questions?" April asked as she started to follow him.

Guerra hopped into the SUV and it sped away. Before it made the turn onto the next street, they could see by his reflection in the side mirror that Guerra was watching them.

"What are you doing here?" Casey asked.

Vern lowered his camera, nodding at Leo and Don as they stepped out of hiding.

"I had a feeling there was going to be trouble," April said. "That man has already killed someone and you're putting yourself between him and his being able to get away with it."

"Is Shilo . . .?" Don began.

"Master Splinter told me to go," April said. "He had the same feeling I did. Don't worry, he's right there with Shilo and won't leave his side until you guys get back to the lair."

Don's shoulder communication device beeped and he pressed the button to answer. "Hey, Raph."

 _"Donnie, you and Leo move your butts,"_ Raph said. _"We've got a situation here."_

TBC…..


	12. Chapter 12

Castoff  
part 12

Leo was near enough to Don to hear what Raph said. Leaning close to his brother's shoulder, Leo told Raph, "We're on our way. Keep your mic open so we can track you."

 _"Whatever ya' do, stay off of West 35th,"_ Raph said.

"What's on West 35th?" Don asked.

Tapping his arm, Leo said, "Questions later, let's move."

He glanced at Casey who shook his head. "Take off. I need to call the crime scene guys to come down here and process the spot where we found blood. I don't want Guerra to come back and start destroying evidence."

"I'm staying too," April said. "I want to know what they find."

The pair of turtles ran back to where they'd left the truck. This time Donatello drove, expertly traversing the city streets far faster than was prudent. Leo kept watch for police cruisers, not wanting to get tangled up with law enforcement.

Once they were moving along at a fast clip, Leo used the truck's intercom to connect with Raph again.

"Okay Raph, tell me what's happened," Leo said.

 _"We caught up to some Foot goons and followed them to a restaurant,"_ Raph said. _"No, we didn't 'engage the enemy'. We stayed back and watched 'em raid the place just like ya' said."_

"What's the problem then?" Leo asked, frowning.

 _"Mikey was driving, that's the problem,"_ Raph said.

 _"It wasn't my fault,"_ Mikey protested in the background.

 _"Shut up,"_ Raph barked at him. _"He parked the van right out in the open in front of a pizza joint. We were going back to it so we could stay on the Foot's trail, but they found the van first. Some of them headed off with the food, but there's a whole squad of 'em staking out our ride."_

"I take it the pizza place is on West 35th?" Leo asked.

 _"Yeah, it is,"_ Raph answered. _"We can't move without giving ourselves away. We could just leave the van parked there, but then we lose the chance to find out where these guys have been hiding."_

"Hang tight until we get there," Leo said. "We won't be long."

 _"Hurry it up. If I have to listen to any more of Mikey's stupid ideas, I'm gonna lose it,"_ Raph said.

Don took that literally and stomped on the gas pedal. With Raphael, one never knew.

They found their brothers waiting for them in the shadows of a large water tower. Don had parked the truck far from their location, since it too would be recognized by the Foot.

"Ya' sure we can't put a beat down on some of them?" Raph asked as his brothers approached. "We could follow the ones who scurry off."

"They wouldn't go back to Karai," Leo said, dismissing the suggestion. "Have any of them been near the van?"

"Couple of them went down to take a look, then they went into hiding," Raph said. With a snort, he added, "They're bad at it. Spotted them inside of a minute."

"How many?" Leo asked.

"Eight," Mikey answered. "It's not my fault they found the van. Could have happened to anyone."

"Yeah, only it happened to you," Raph retorted.

"How about we focus on how to get the Foot to lead us back to their home base?" Leo asked.

"If they have nothing to watch, they'll leave," Don suggested.

"I hope ya' ain't planning on blowing it up," Raph said, glaring at him.

"No, I was thinking about having it impounded," Don said, looking at Leo.

"Call Casey," Leo said.

When Don reached their friend, he switched the call to Leo's comm unit.

"Casey, Don's going to send you the location of the van," Leo said. "Can you get someone to drive you to it in a patrol car? You'll need to be in uniform. Give it the once over like it's been parked illegally, then get in and drive away. Make sure you aren't followed."

 _"Yeah, okay,"_ Casey said. _"Give me a bit. I've got the crime scene guys going over the grounds here. I'll leave them to it and get one of my buddies to give me a lift."_

"We'll keep an eye out for you," Leo said before signing off.

"It's going to be daylight soon," Don reminded them.

"Did either of you see Bebop and Rocksteady?" Leo asked.

"No, only Foot soldiers," Mikey said.

"I say we grab one of the Foot when they all start to leave and smack him around until he talks," Raph said.

"I've got a better idea," Don said, taking out his pea shooter. "Show me where a couple of them are hiding."

No one bothered to question what he was up to since they knew he'd tell them once it was done. Leading the way, Raph took them across to another rooftop and pointed to a darkened areaway on the street below.

Flipping his telescopic lenses down over his eyes, Don located the Foot soldier. From his belt Don extracted a small round object, its surface covered in hair like burs. After loading it into the barrel of his pea shooter, Don placed the weapon to his lips. Taking careful aim, Don expelled a hard puff of air, sending the 'pea' flying.

The object hit the Foot soldier's pant leg and stuck. It went completely unnoticed by the man.

"What was that?" Leo finally asked.

"Tracking device," Don said. "I've been working on them. This seemed like a good chance to try them out."

"Ya' got more of them?" Raph asked. "'Cause we should tag a few of those goons just in case one of your gizmos don't work."

"Bite your tongue," Don said with a grin.

"Guys, let's avoid being seen," Leo said, "or heard."

By the time Don had planted trackers on three more of the Foot soldiers, a police patrol car had arrived. Crouching in their hiding places, they watched as Casey stepped out of the passenger side of the car. He put on his hat, tugging it down low over his eyes, before moving across the street to where the Turtle Van was parked.

Because Casey was part of their 'team', he'd been given a set of keys to both the van and the garbage truck. After walking around the vehicle and making a show of looking through the driver's side window, Casey climbed into the van and used his key to start the ignition.

When he pulled away from the curb the patrol car moved into place behind him. The turtles watched as the two vehicles drove a couple of blocks before turning onto 9th Avenue.

There was no sign that they were being pursued, but only moments after the van disappeared, the Foot soldiers scattered.

"Now what?" Mikey asked.

"Follow them," Raph said.

"We can't." Don pulled up a holographic image of a small section of the neighborhood they were in. It showed four separate blinking dots, each vanishing as they floated off the screen.

"What's going on? Ain't your trackers working?" Raph asked.

"They're working just fine," Don said. "The GPS satellite I'm piggybacking off of has to be accessed from my computers in the lair. My wrist device has limitations."

"It's too near daylight anyway," Leo said. "We should find out where Casey's taken the van and retrieve it."

After ensuring themselves that there were no more Foot minions in the area, the brothers ran back to where the garbage truck was parked. Don had just started the engine when they received a call from Casey.

 _"Here's where I'm leaving the van,"_ Casey said, giving them a location. _"I'm catching a ride back to Garvey Park with my buddy. April's still there keeping an eye on things. The case detectives were showing up as I was leaving and they'd be real happy to keep stuff to themselves."_

"Thanks, Casey," Leo said.

 _"Soon as I get a free minute, I'll catch up with you guys so you can tell me what you found out,"_ Casey said. _"By then I hope I'll have some news for you too."_

They found where Casey had parked the van and Raph took over as its driver. Since the sun would soon be rising and there wasn't anything else they could do, the turtles headed for home.

The first thing Donatello did upon arriving at the lair was to check on Shilo. The infant turtle was sound asleep in his bassinet.

"He gave me no trouble at all," Master Splinter said. "Shilo seems to enjoy the sounds of my televised dramas. They soothed him to sleep."

"More like bored him to sleep," Raph muttered under his breath.

Don rolled the bassinet over to his computer station and then sat down to fire up his tracking systems. Raph and Mikey made their way to the kitchen to fix themselves a snack as Master Splinter turned off the television and went to bed.

Leo stood behind Don, his arms crossed as he watched four tiny blips appear on a map of the city. "That the guys you tagged?"

"Yes," Don answered. "They haven't converged on a single location yet. They may sleep during the day too and have all gone home. Wherever Karai is hiding with Bebop and Rocksteady, it's probably not large enough to house the entire Foot army."

"What there is left of them," Leo said. "Speaking of sleep, make sure that you get some, okay?"

"Sure, Leo," Don said, eyes glued to his computer screen.

Shaking his head, Leo moved over to the bassinet and leaned down to watch Shilo sleep. The baby gurgled and shifted, turning his head in Leo's direction before settling down again. That brought a smile to Leo's face and he had to resist the urge to caress Shilo's bald dome.

One by one the brothers went to bed, all except Don. Murmuring to himself, he continued working at his computers, barely acknowledging Leo's final admonition that he should rest.

Hours later Raphael woke, sat up to stretch, and then hopped out of bed. Glancing around, he saw that he was the only one in the bedroom.

Going down to the kitchen, Raph grabbed the milk from the refrigerator and chugged it straight from the carton. Finishing it off, he crushed the carton and tossed it into the garbage can before trying to locate the rest of his family.

He didn't see Leo, Mikey, or Master Splinter anywhere, but Don was still at his computer station. Shilo lay atop a cushion which was sitting on Don's lap, his little head supported by the back of Don's wrist. The baby was greedily sucking on a bottle, which Don kept upright by bracing it with his cheek since both of his hands were on the computer keyboard.

Raph chuckled. It figured that Don would find a way to care for the baby and work at the same time. Leaving the kitchen, Raph walked over to his brother and asked, "Where is everybody?"

"Leo and Master Splinter left to see if they could locate the gun Guerra tossed into the storm drain," Don said. "Casey's meeting them there so he can 'find' the gun. Mikey's started on the body repairs to the car Casey brought over."

"Did you get any sleep?" Raph asked, eyeing his brother suspiciously.

"Wasn't tired," Don replied, tapping away on his keyboard.

Shilo pulled away from the bottle and started wriggling, a clear sign that he was finished eating.

"Here, give him to me," Raph said. "He probably needs to burp and you ain't as good at that as I am."

Don set the nearly empty bottle aside and handed Shilo to his brother. He also gave Raph the towel that was on the desk next to him.

"Watch how hard you thump him or you'll have half that bottle on your arm," Don warned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever mom," Raph said in a teasing tone as he turned Shilo plastron down on his forearm.

"I wish you guys would stop calling me that," Don muttered.

After several firm thumps on his carapace, Shilo burped loudly. Grinning, Raph said, "That's right little buddy, we got this."

Placing Shilo against his chest, Raph cleaned the saliva from his arm and then draped the towel on his shoulder. Shifting Shilo into a more comfortable position, Raph glanced down at his brother.

Donatello had passed out on the desk, his glasses now slightly askew. Rolling his eyes, Raph slid the glasses off of Don's face and set them nearby so that his brother could find them quickly.

Turning his head so he could look at Shilo's face, Raph saw that the baby was watching him intently. "Guess it's just you and me kid. Whatcha' wanna do with your favorite uncle, huh?"

Shilo cooed, almost as if to answer the question. Smiling broadly, Raph said, "Okay then, how about a tour of the lair? Don't think anyone's bothered to formally introduce ya' to your home."

Raph began walking from room to room, keeping up a running commentary as he went. While he talked, Shilo responded with encouraging noises, from coos to gurgles to small warbling sounds.

Before long though, Shilo began to grunt. The noise was odd enough for Raph to shift the baby from his shoulder to his arms, cradling Shilo as he looked at him.

Shilo's little face was scrunched up and for a second, Raph thought he was in pain. Then a second later the smell hit him.

"Oh yuck!" Raph exclaimed, his own nose crinkling in distaste. His initial impulse was to look to Don, but his brother was still out of it. If Raph woke him, he knew Don wouldn't go back to sleep again.

"Okay, okay, I got this," Raph mumbled, gathering the items he needed from the bassinet and carrying them to the kitchen so as not to disturb Donatello.

After spreading a towel on one of the tables, he lay Shilo down on it and set a clean diaper and wipes next to him.

"How hard can this be?" Raph asked himself. "Suck it up, Raph. It's just a bad smell. You've lived with worse. Hold your breath."

While he was working up the courage to dive into his task, Shilo's lower lip began to quiver.

"No~o," Raph pleaded, keeping his voice down. "No, no, no baby. Don't cry. Don't wake your momma. Uncle Raph's gonna fix you right up."

The impending storm of an unhappy baby's wails got Raph moving. He swiftly stripped off Shilo's pajama bottoms. Taking a deep breath and holding it, Raph unfastened the dirty diaper.

Remembering what Don had said about spraying, Raph held the diaper just above Shilo's penis. He immediately felt urine pelting the inside of the diaper and waited until it stopped before removing the soiled diaper completely.

Raph set a world's record in rolling that diaper into a compact ball and tossing it towards the garage. Turning his head, he exhaled and then filled his lungs, holding his breath again as he cleaned Shilo's bottom.

Once that was done, Raph placed a clean diaper on the baby turtle and slipped the pajamas back onto him.

"Ha! I knew you could do it!"

Turning his head, Raph saw Mikey perched on the ladder that led up from the tide pool. Somehow his brother had snuck over to watch him without alerting Raph to his presence.

"Thanks for your help," Raph said in a sarcastic tone.

"I found something called a 'Diaper Genie' in the boxes of stuff April dropped off and put the dirty diaper in it," Mikey said. "That's helping. Besides, it was way past your turn to change a diaper."

"Don't know what all the fuss was about," Raph said, cradling Shilo once again. "It wasn't that big a deal."

"You were the only one fussing about it," Mikey said.

"What else have you been up to?" Raph asked.

"I was supposed to be hammering out some of the dents in the new car," Mikey said. "I got sidetracked when I saw those boxes in the back of the truck. I unloaded all of them and unpacked a few. 'Some assembly required' is stamped on a whole lot of them."

"Let's call Vern and get him to do it," Raph said with a grin.

They were quiet for a moment as Raph rocked Shilo in his arms, watching as the baby turtle's eyes slowly closed.

"Raph, I've been wondering something," Mikey said. "How come you didn't jump the Foot last night? You never held back before."

His brother seemed to think about that question as he gazed at Shilo. Then he asked, "What made ya' suddenly stop and buy a teddy bear yesterday?"

Mikey appeared puzzled at the change in topic. "I did it for Shilo."

"There's the answer to your question," Raph said. "My first instinct was to go to pound town on the Foot, then I had this thought that word would get back to Karai. What if she had her guys go into the tunnels looking for us the way they did before? While I don't give a crap when it's about me, I suddenly had this vision of them finding Shilo down here and . . . ."

As Raph trailed off, he gave Mikey a look that the younger turtle understood completely.

"I guess from now on we're gonna think of Shilo before we do anything," Mikey said. "Is that what it means to be responsible?"

"'Fraid so little brother," Raph said. He kissed Shilo's head. "Wouldn't turn back time even if I could though."

The sound of voices speaking in low tones turned their attention to the lair's main entrance. Master Splinter and Leo appeared a moment later and stopped when they saw Raph and Mikey.

"How'd it go?" Raph asked.

"We found the gun," Leo said.

TBC….


	13. Chapter 13

Castoff  
part 13

Leo started to embellish on the story of the gun when Raph put a finger to his lips. "Keep it down. Donnie just fell asleep."

Lowering his voice, Leo said, "To be accurate, I have to say that Dad found the gun."

Mikey hopped over the railing and into the kitchen. "Wasn't it in the storm drain?" he asked as he began folding the towel Raph had used for changing Shilo.

"Street cleaners had been on that block between the time Guerra tossed the gun and when we discovered it," Leo said. "The wash pushed the pile of junk the gun was sitting on farther down the drain. That's why Casey couldn't see it."

"No wonder it was still there," Raph said. "Guerra had to find a way into the sewers if he wanted to get the gun back. Even then he'd probably get lost."

"We don't have that problem," Mikey said. "Was it hard to find?"

"I smelled the gun oil," Master Splinter said, taking the stairs up to the kitchen so that he could inspect the sleeping baby that Raph cradled in his arms.

"Dad used his tail to push the gun up near the grate so that Casey could reach it," Leo said. "There were uniformed officers and detectives still in the area, so we had to avoid being seen."

Grinning, Mikey said, "We have news too. Raphie changed his first diaper."

Before Leo or Master Splinter had a chance to react to that news, Leo received a call from Casey. Their friend said that he was on his way over, but had to pick up April first and that they would bring lunch with them.

After disconnecting from the call, Leo glanced up at Raph. Eyes twinkling with humor, Leo said, "It looks like your days of dodging diaper duty are over bro'."

"Indeed," Master Splinter said in agreement. "Now the four of you will share equally the job of parenting."

"We're gonna have to share the job of getting the truck and car fixed up too," Raph said. "If we don't, Donnie ain't ever gonna get any sleep."

"Speaking of sleep, some of the boxes I took off the truck have crib parts in them," Mikey said. "The words 'changing table dresser' is stamped on one of the big boxes."

"Time to move your drum set, Mikey," Leo said.

"Where exactly?" Mikey asked, looking none too pleased

"It will have to go in the alcove next to the weight room," Leo said. "It's the only open space."

"Just don't be using those drums while I'm lifting," Raph said.

"If I have to make a sacrifice, then so do you," Mikey told him.

Shilo sniffled in his sleep and shifted around in Raph's arms.

"See, Shilo agrees with me," Mikey said.

"Perhaps you should put him in his bassinet, Raphael," Master Splinter suggested. "Otherwise, he will become used to only sleeping while someone is holding him."

"Oh. I didn't think of that," Raph said. His expression softened as he looked down at Shilo. "I kinda like just holding him."

"Who doesn't?" Leo asked.

"The little guy gets right under your skin," Mikey said.

"The little guy needs his changing table and crib too," Leo said. "Our first step is getting that drum set moved. Let's try to look like we've made progress with those things Vern so graciously purchased for Shilo."

Chuckling, Raph said, "Ya' mean the things April forced Vern to so graciously purchase."

Raphael took Shilo back over to his bassinet and gently placed the sleeping baby into it. Donatello was still passed out on his desk, so his brothers worked as quietly as they could while taking the drum set apart.

It took them little time to reassemble it in its new location. Mikey then swept and mopped the area where the drums had been sitting. While he cleaned up the space that would constitute Shilo's section of the bedroom, Leo and Raph began bringing boxes into the lair.

"What are you guys doing?"

Don was still in his chair, blinking blearily at his brothers as he groped around on his desk for his glasses.

"Putting Shilo's crib together, I think," Raph said as he leaned the crib mattress against a chair. "That baggie full of tiny bolts and screws ain't filling me with confidence."

"At least the instructions aren't as confusing as the ones for the bassinet," Leo said, opening the booklet.

"Says _you_ ," Raph muttered.

"Where are we putting it?" Don asked as he walked over to his brothers.

"I moved my drum set," Mikey answered.

Raph cleared his throat menacingly and Mikey quickly amended his statement. "Raph and Leo helped to move my drum set."

The brothers spent the next half an hour putting the crib together in its new location. Don slid a blue fitted sheet onto the mattress and reminded his brothers to throw out all the plastic wrap that had been in the boxes because it was a choking hazard.

Casey and April arrived just as Raph was setting the baby's new combination changing table and dresser into place at one end of the crib.

Mikey was the first to reach April's side and relieve her of the burden of two large sacks. "What'd you bring?"

"Thank you, April," Leo said, giving Mikey a meaningful look.

Mikey grinned. "Thank you, April. What'd you bring?"

"Chinese take-out," April told him. She noticed the boxes strewn around the lair. "It looks as if you guys have been busy. Did everything fit?"

"Come take a look," Don said, indicating that April should follow him into the bedroom area.

Snuffling and gurgling noises coming from the bassinet indicated that Shilo was waking up. While Leo and Mikey set the tables, Casey followed Raph down to Don's computer station where the bassinet was parked.

"Did you guys come up with anything on Bebop and Rocksteady?" Casey asked.

"Don's spent most of the day watching those trackers he put on the Foot soldiers," Raph answered. "He passed out on his desk a little while ago so I don't know what he's come up with."

Raph had been searching around Shilo and then under the bassinet while he talked. Now he started rummaging around on Don's desk.

"What are you looking for?" Casey asked.

"Shilo's pacifier," Raph said. The baby started to whine and Raph glanced at Casey. "Entertain him until I find the damn thing."

Appearing out of his element, Casey nevertheless did as asked and bent over the bassinet to talk to Shilo. Rather than calming the baby, Shilo grew more agitated and began to cry. Casey straightened up and took a step back, unnerved at upsetting the baby further, but when he moved away, Shilo settled down.

Frowning, Casey leaned over the tiny turtle once more, only to have Shilo begin to fuss again.

"Why does he cry when I get close to him?" Casey asked as Raph returned with the pacifier.

"Probably 'cause ya' haven't held him yet," Raph said, offering the pacifier to Shilo.

Don and April joined them. "Shilo codes off of scent and he doesn't know yours," Don explained. "He needs to understand that you're family."

"You have to hold him, Cousin Casey," April teased.

"Me?" Casey asked, looking both shocked and frightened.

"Big, bad police officer is afraid of the little baby," April said as she lifted Shilo from the bassinet.

"I'm not afraid, I just don't want to be the reason he cries," Casey said. Though reluctant, he held out his arms as April passed the infant over to him.

At first he was stiff as he held Shilo partly away from his body. Shilo spit the pacifier out of his mouth and started to cry.

"Somebody . . . um, somebody else take him," Casey said, sounding panicked.

April and the turtle brothers looked on with amusement. "You have to relax, Casey," April said. "Hold him close to you. He can sense your unease."

Since it was clear he wasn't going to be rescued, Casey took a deep breath and pulled Shilo up against his chest. "It's okay, Shilo. Shh, I've got you," he said as he began to gently rock from side to side.

Shilo started to quiet and then stopped crying altogether. He accepted the pacifier again when April touched it to his lips.

"Not bad," Don said.

"Wait until he gets a little older," Casey said with a grin. "I'll teach the slugger here how to play ice hockey."

"Food's ready!" Mikey called.

Leo was carrying a bottle as he walked up to the group. "He's making his 'I'm hungry' sounds," he said. "That's why he's fussing."

"You guys are tuning in to his needs very quickly," April said.

"They are naturals," Master Splinter said as he came out of his room. "Give Shilo to me; I will feed him while the rest of you eat."

Casey handed Shilo to his grandfather, who took both baby and bottle over to the couch. Expertly seating Shilo on his lap, with his head supported against an arm, Master Splinter used the remote to turn the television on. When he had changed the channel to a favorite program of his, he began feeding the baby.

The turtles and their two friends gathered around the kitchen tables to eat. Their conversation naturally turned to the situations with which they were currently faced.

"I handed that gun off to the case detectives," Casey said. "They'll drop it off at the forensics lab. We should have some answers today from ballistics on whether it's the gun used to kill Colón or not. They have a backlog of cases, but since Chief Vincent is interested in this one, our gun got pushed to the head of the line."

"Casey was asking about the search for Bebop and Rocksteady," Raph said, looking over at Donatello.

"The tracking devices stopped moving around six this morning," Don said. "Two of them wound up in the same location, but when I checked the address, it turned out to be an apartment building. I know which apartment they're in, for future reference, but the complex itself is legit. The other two went to separate addresses, both of which were rentals. They haven't moved all day. The interesting thing is none of them went all that far from the area where the food thefts have been occurring."

"Which seems to prove that the Foot have set up new headquarters in the Hell's Kitchen district," Leo said.

"That's still a big area with a lot of places where Karai and her goon squad could hide," Casey said. "Saki owed a lot of property in the city, most of it held in dummy corporations. For that matter, Sacks had large holdings as well. Our forensic accountants are still trying to trace it all."

"We only need one of the Foot soldiers that Don tagged to lead us back to Karai," Leo said. "It's a good bet that after nightfall they'll all report to her for instructions."

"There's an entire task force on stand-by just waiting to take her down," Casey said. "Once we give them the word, they'll swoop in and corral that gang along with Bebop and Rocksteady."

"No disrespect to the police, but Saki had officers on his payroll," Raph said. "Ya' sure there ain't no chance someone on that task force will warn Karai that they're coming?"

"Chief Vincent found most of those bad cops after Saki escaped," Casey said. "On the off chance there are still any of them in the squad, the task force has regular training exercises. They'll be told this is another training run. The only communication devices allowed are the ones supplied by the unit and those frequencies are monitored. It's completely compartmentalized."

"So now it's a waiting game," Leo said.

"While you guys were out hunting the Foot last night, I managed to track down someone who had some interesting information on Colón and Guerra," April said.

"You found someone willing to talk?" Casey said.

April raised an eyebrow, giving him a sassy look. "Not to the police," she said. "Talking to a reporter 'off the record' was another matter. After I paid her for her time, of course."

"A prostitute," Casey said.

Nodding, April said, "She and Colón used to work the streets together. It just so happens that they were also roommates for a time."

"We questioned that woman," Casey said. "Darla Brown, right? She told us Colón moved out of their apartment over a year ago and Brown didn't know where she'd gone. She also said that Colón kept to herself and she knew nothing of her private business."

"Darla remembered you. She said you were cute," April said with a hint of a smile. "She also said you were a cop and she doesn't discuss her personal life with cops."

"What'd she have to say about Colón and Guerra?" Raph asked, growing impatient.

"Apparently Colón met Guerra at a party," April said. "He took a liking to her and eventually bought her off the pimp she'd been working for. Guerra got her a place of her own so he could come and go without anyone else knowing his business. In return for his 'kindness', she was supposed to quit hooking, give up drinking and stop using drugs. He made it known that she was his woman and that if anyone sold to her, he'd put a bullet in their head."

"He didn't strike me as the type that would care that much about anyone," Leo said.

"Some of these guys are funny that way," Casey said. "There's usually one woman out of the dozens they're sleeping with who they have an extra connection to. They don't normally kill them though, not unless they cross the man in some especially intolerable way."

"Like dumping the guy's kid in a garbage can," Mikey said.

"Darla told me that there was talk on the street that Guerra couldn't have kids," April said. "Something wrong with his pipes was how Darla put it. Most of his crew have children, so his not having any had them talking behind his back. Some of them even wondered if he wasn't really into women, if you know what I mean."

"Damn," Casey said. "In that kind of gang culture, being gay is a big sign of weakness. If he wanted to remain at the top of the Mala Noche, he'd need to quash those types of rumors."

"That's probably why he hooked up with Colón," Raph said. "He had to prove he was the same kind of macho asshole as the rest of them."

"But if he has some sort of reproductive defect or disorder, the odds of having a child would be vastly skewed against him," Don said. "It's very possible that his disorder was responsible for Shilo's spinal deformity."

"He wouldn't have accepted that," Casey said. "If he'd discovered that his son was deformed, he'd have blamed it on her. He'd have to in order to save face with his men."

"Darla said that when Lia became pregnant, Guerra went around crowing about it," April said. "That shut down the men who'd been talking behind his back."

"So now he wants Shilo as proof that he can father a child and that he's just as heterosexual as the rest of them," Casey said.

"Then why did he kill the mom?" Mikey asked, looking confused. "Didn't she dump Shilo so that he wouldn't kill her after seeing that the baby was messed up?"

"Maybe she thought not telling him where the baby was would keep her alive," Raph said.

"Or maybe she planned to say the baby was kidnapped," Leo said.

"Maybe that's what she did say," Don said. "It could be why he's still looking for Shilo."

"You guys saw how Guerra was," Casey said. "Whatever Colón did say before he killed her, it wasn't to admit to the baby having a deformity. He's still searching for him. The man has a temper; hell, he almost drew on me while we were standing out on the street. He probably shot Colón in a fit of rage."

"There's a chance that the spinal deformity wasn't Guerra's fault," April said. "Darla told me that Colón was still drinking and using cocaine without Guerra's knowledge. She was buying it off of other users as a way to bypass the man's dictate to dealers that they weren't to sell to her."

"She was pretty much screwed no matter which direction she went after the baby was born," Raph said. "I don't want to even think about what Guerra would have done to Shilo if he'd found the baby."

"Nor do I," Don said softly.

They were just finishing up with lunch when Casey's phone rang. He excused himself and went into the lair's entrance tunnel so that the caller wouldn't pick up on any background noises.

Leo sat down on the couch next to Master Splinter and took Shilo from him so that his father could go have his lunch. The baby seemed fascinated by the leather straps across Leo's chest and wrapped his little fingers around the edge of one of them.

In a soft murmur, Leo began telling Shilo the history of Japanese swordsmithing, a craft that the turtle had researched extensively. Before long, Raphael joined them, listening silently until Shilo had dozed off.

"Good job putting him to sleep, sword guy," Raph teased. "Ya' pretty much guaranteed he'll choose a more exciting weapon when he gets older."

Leo grinned. "I suppose you mean the sai?"

"He's got the grip for it," Raph said, noting how Shilo's hand was still locked onto the leather strap.

Donatello walked over and gently pried Shilo's hand loose before taking the baby from his brother. "Into the bassinet with him," he said. "He's getting very spoiled with you guys holding him all the time."

Raph snorted his amusement. "Right. Like you ain't doing the same damn thing."

After depositing Shilo in his bassinet, Don sat down at his computer station to begin working again. A few minutes later, Casey reentered the lair, red faced and looking completely frustrated.

Spotting Leo and Raph in the television corner, Casey strode over to join them. Seeing the look on his face as he passed by them, April, Mikey, and Don followed.

"What's wrong?" Raph immediately asked.

"Just got the report back on the gun," Casey said. "The ballistics are a match to the bullet we pulled out of Colón and there were several identifiable prints on the gun itself. One of those prints belongs to Guerra."

"That sounds like good news," Raph said. "How come ya' look so pissed?"

In a tone that indicated extreme aggravation, Casey said, "Because I was just told that's not enough to arrest the guy."

TBC….


	14. Chapter 14

Castoff  
part 14

"What do ya' mean, ya' can't arrest Guerra?" Raph asked. "Ya' got the gun that killed Colón and it's got his fingerprints on it. What the hell else do ya' need?"

"It's got his prints but also a lot of others," Casey explained. "Some can be identified, but a couple of them can't. There's no way to put the gun specifically into his hands at the time the trigger was pulled in the killing of Colón."

"That's the trouble with a 'library' gun and one of the reasons gangs use them," April said.

"What can the police do?" Leo asked.

"We can pull Guerra and the other matched print owners in for questioning," Casey answered. "By law we can hold them for up to seventy-two hours without charging them. They won't talk though. The Mala Noche have been well taught on how to listen to questions so they know what evidence the police have and then to say one word. Lawyer."

"Can't the phones prove Guerra was in the park with Colón?" Mikey asked. "The police found her phone and it showed she was in the park at the same time Guerra's phone was in the park."

"You're right, Mikey. The phone records indicate that both their registered phones were in the park," Casey said. "They don't show who was using those phones though. Because Colón used a burner phone, it can't even be proved that she and Guerra ever talked to each other. All the evidence is circumstantial and too easily explained. Without witnesses, we can't even prove a connection between Colón and Guerra."

"Then how do we get him?" Raph asked. "Ya' ain't telling me the asshole is gonna get away with murder are ya'?"

"He might," Casey said. "As bad as that sounds, it happens all too often. It's beginning to look like the only way to get Guerra is if he confesses."

Raph slammed a fist into his open palm. "I'll get him to confess."

Casey shook his head. "Confessions achieved through force aren't admissible," he said. "If only they were."

"You're not giving up, are you?" Don asked. "It will never be safe for Shilo if that man remains free. It won't be safe for anyone who he might think is involved in his baby's disappearance."

"That includes you, Casey," Leo said. "Your confrontation with Guerra told him that you know something about his child."

"It won't matter that you're a police officer," April said, moving closer to Casey. "Monsters like him have no respect for the badge. He'll find out who you are, where you live, which precinct you work out of."

"I can take care of myself," Casey said. "In fact, it would be good if he did come after me. Whatever he says or does, I can testify to. Even if the case is still circumstantial at that point, his utterances can go to prove motive."

"His utterances aren't what worry me," April said. "You can't testify if you're dead."

"Then we'll make sure he don't get dead," Raph said. "We've got your back, Casey."

"Just hold his goons off," Casey said. "Guerra belongs to me."

"In the meantime, I have an assignment and that man is a part of it," April said. "I'm going to try to talk to him alone. Maybe he'll admit something to me or say something incriminating. Almost all of the ones with big egos tend to brag to reporters."

"April . . . ." Casey began.

Holding up her hand, April stopped him. "You have your job and I have mine. He won't do anything to me, I'm too high profile."

"That's an assumption," Casey argued. "People like Guerra will sometimes react without thinking things through."

"I have to go with Casey on this one," Leo said. "From the evidence it appears that he shot Colón in a fit of anger."

"Then I'll just have to make sure he doesn't become angry with me," April said stubbornly. "You guys seem to forget that I faced off with the Shredder."

"And ya' got your ass thrown off a building for your troubles," Raph said.

"I'll interview Guerra on the ground," April retorted. "This is what being a reporter means guys. We go into war torn areas to gather the news. It just so happens that our war torn area is right in the center of the city."

Donatello had been quiet for several minutes. He suddenly asked, "Is the circumstantial evidence you do have enough to get permission to set up surveillance?"

"We could do that ourselves, Donnie," Raph said.

"Not if we want what's recorded to have any legal standing," Don said. "That's the goal isn't it? To put Guerra away for life?"

Casey thought about Don's question for a moment and then slowly nodded. "I can go through Chief Vincent with everything we've obtained so far. Since she'll want to know motive and I can't tell her about Shilo, I can say Guerra lost his temper because he'd found out she was still using. Darla refuses to testify to anything, so I'll have to say I got the information from a confidential informant."

"Do that and let us know what happens," Leo said. "We need to get this situation sorted out because right now we're subdividing our attention and that's dangerous. What remains of the Foot are still out there. We can't give them the opportunity to rebuild."

"Let me see if I can catch Chief Vincent in her office," Casey said. "This is a request that needs to be done in person."

"You can drop me at the news station on the way," April said. "I want to go through our archives and see what we have on the Mala Noche."

"We have Foot soldiers to monitor," Leo said, looking pointedly at Don.

"I have the system set to notify me when any of them start to move," Don said.

"Sounds like our best bet for some action is the Foot," Raph said. "Can't move on Guerra until we've got something to hold him on."

"You can't interview him until he's out of police custody," Casey said, gazing meaningfully at April. "Guess you'll have to settle down to a long wait."

"That's fine by me," April retorted saucily. "It gives me time to gather more ammunition for my questions."

The pair left together, each with a purpose. Once they were gone, the brothers looked at one another.

Leo was the first to speak. "We'll need to keep an eye on both of them."

"We can do that at night, but what about during the day?" Don asked. "We can't follow them wherever they go."

"Can you follow their phones?" Mikey asked.

"I think I'd better," Don said, walking quickly over to his computers.

The tiniest of sounds came from the bassinet. It was similar to the mewling of a kitten and was a good indication that Shilo was beginning to wake up. Don started to detour towards his bassinet, but Mikey beat him to it.

"What's up little guy?" Mikey said, lifting Shilo and cradling him. The next second, Mikey's face scrunched as though assailed by something unpleasant. "Someone needs a fresh diaper. Let's go try out your new changing table."

Don was sitting in front of his computers but his eyes were on Mikey as his brother carried the baby into the bedroom. Leo came over to stand behind him, one hand resting on the back of Don's chair.

"You're very conscious of Shilo, aren't you?" Leo asked.

"I wonder if it's like this for every new parent," Don replied before turning to his keyboard. He paused with his fingers just touching the keys. "The . . . love is unconditional, but it's like the worry is non-stop."

"Allow yourself to share that worry five ways and your portion won't be so difficult to handle," Leo advised.

"Sage advice," Raph said, clapping Leo on his shoulder. "Come spar with me bro'. I'm getting stiff from all this waiting around."

The two left Don to his work. After setting up tracking software on his computer, Don remotely activated the GPS chips in both Casey and April's phones. He made a mental note to tell them later that he'd done that.

A few hours passed with no word from Casey. Darkness had fallen over the city, but the Foot soldiers Don had planted tracking devices on remained stationary.

"How come they ain't moving?" Raph asked, clearly impatient for some action.

"I would say it's because Karai doesn't want to draw attention to her location," Leo said. "The fewer people who come and go, the less likely it will be that someone notices and reports it to the police."

"Then what good did it do to stick trackers on them in the first place?" Raph demanded.

"Because they will start moving as soon as Bebop and Rocksteady's food supply runs low," Leo said. "The only thing the Foot clan seems to be doing is just sustaining themselves and waiting."

"For what?" Mikey asked.

"For the Shredder to return," Leo said. "If Stockman's with them, he may be working on or already found a way to communicate with Saki."

"If he's in communication with Shredder, then it could mean that Stockman is working with Krang to develop a way for the both of them to come back here," Don said. "That would be bad, very, very bad."

"No shit, Sherlock," Raph said. "We need to nip that in the bud."

"As soon as we locate where they're holed up, we will," Leo promised.

"You know what we need," Don said, lifting a finger the way he did when he had an idea. "We need one really nondescript vehicle. The Foot know the turtle van and the garbage truck."

"We've got that truck and car that Casey bought at auction," Mikey said.

Don shook his head. "Those aren't big enough. I'm thinking something along the lines of a plain white cargo van. See, we could order online several of those magnetic signs with different company names and slap them on the van to disguise it."

"Ooh, I get to come up with the names," Mikey said quickly.

"I like that idea," Leo said. "Why don't we work on the two vehicles that Casey already brought us so he that can sell them? That money could be used to buy a van."

"It doesn't look like we're gonna have anything else to do for a while," Raph said, grabbing hold of Mikey's mask tails. "Come on, let's get busy. That car transmission ought to be easy enough to fix."

"Dad's watching Shilo," Leo told Don. "We can tackle the truck while they're working on the car."

"Sounds good," Don said. He typed in a series of commands on his keyboard and got up. "If anyone moves, whether it's the Foot or Casey and April, I'll be notified."

An hour later Casey called to let them know that Guerra and several other members of the Mala Noche had been picked up. Just as he'd predicted, they refused to speak.

Don put him on speaker. _"The case detectives did all the questioning,"_ Casey said. _"Guerra spotted me and wanted to know who I was. They told him because they thought he might be willing to talk to me. I had a go at him, but all he did was grin and tell me he'd catch me later."_

"Now you've got a target on your back," Raph said. "He knows exactly who ya' are."

 _"It's a matter of pride for him now,"_ Casey said. _"He made that promise which means he has to come after me himself or lose his street cred. That's his first big mistake because this means the only one I have to watch out for is Guerra."_

"I hope you're right," Raph said, his tone dubious.

 _"The other thing I wanted to tell you is that the circumstantial evidence was enough to get a judge to sign off on a subpoena allowing twenty-four hour surveillance. Chief Vincent's personal assistant Detective Jade Young is handling it so that we can keep this thing compartmentalized to only the officers who already know about you guys,"_ Casey said.

"Where are you?" Leo asked.

 _"At the station about to head home and get some shut-eye,"_ Casey said. _"Any news on the Bebop and Rocksteady front?"_

"There's no movement," Don said, "not even from the Foot soldiers I planted those tracking devices on."

 _"Not sure I like the sound of that,"_ Casey said. _"I'll swing by tomorrow. Yell if anything comes up. I'll have my phone right next to the bed."_

Awhile later Donatello left Raph to supervise the work on the two vehicles so that he could spend time with Shilo. The baby turtle began to coo and gurgle as soon as Don picked him up.

"He recognizes you," Master Splinter said. "Shilo knows that you are his primary caregiver."

"I'm Daddy," Don said, sitting down so he could lean in close to Shilo. "Da~ddy."

One tiny hand suddenly darted upwards to snatch Don's glasses off his face. Only a quick movement by Master Splinter kept the eyewear from hitting the floor.

"Did you see that, Dad?" Don asked, retrieving his glasses from his father. "Did you see how fast he was? That coordination?"

"Yes, yes my son, I did see it. You had best take care in the future or your child will render you sightless," Master Splinter said with a great deal of humor.

"Is that normal?" Don asked. "He seems too young to be quite that dexterous."

"The four of you were capable of that and more at his age," Master Splinter said. "I believe the mutagen was designed to promote advanced physical development." He chuckled. "You will have your hands full."

"I am more than okay with that," Don said as he put his glasses back on. Addressing Shilo directly, he added, "No more getting close to those quick hands for Daddy."

"You mean 'Mommy'," Mikey said, popping up behind his brother.

Don shot a dirty look in his direction. "What did I tell you?"

"What's this about quick hands?" Mikey asked, ignoring the warning in Don's voice.

Master Splinter described what had happened and Mikey whistled. "He's gonna be an awesome little ninja. Takes after his favorite uncle."

"You should attempt to get him accustomed to some sort of schedule," Master Splinter said. "I know that you and your brothers no longer have one, but when you were little the only way I could get any rest was to have a set bedtime for the four of you."

"We're usually turning in during the early morning hours," Don said. "I should try to keep him up from about now until around three a.m."

"Do not force it or you will have a cranky baby," Master Splinter advised. "Overstimulating him is not advised."

Shilo's head began turning from side to side, his mouth opening and closing. "He's hungry," Don said. "Mikey, could . . . ."

"I'll get his bottle," Mikey said before Don could complete the request.

They managed to keep Shilo entertained for a couple of hours before he grew too tired to stay awake. By then the brothers had all been working on the vehicle repairs for most of the night and they all agreed to turn in.

It was Shilo's first night in his new crib. Donatello felt a certain amount of anxiety at having the baby beyond his arms' reach, but knew that Shilo needed to get used to the new sleeping arrangement before he outgrew the bassinet.

That anxiety carried over into Don's dreams. In one of them, he had just come from a warm shower, a towel wrapped around him as he stepped out into the lair. Directly in front of him was a slightly larger Shilo, sitting up and playing with blocks.

Standing next to the child was Leonardo, his mask turned to the side to render him sightless. Leo's swords flashed through the air just above little Shilo's head as the turtle leader practiced against imaginary foes.

Don woke with a jerk, sitting up so quickly he almost tumbled out of bed. All was silent as he padded across the room to check on Shilo, who was sleeping soundly.

A quick glance around showed him that his brothers were also sleeping. Double checking Shilo again, he walked back to his bed and sat on the edge.

Once more his eyes turned towards Leo and then drifted up to the sword collection mounted on the wall above his bed.

Don decided he really needed to have a talk with Leo about baby safety.

TBC…..


	15. Chapter 15

Castoff  
part 15

As it turned out, the transmission had to be pulled from the car they were attempting to repair, so all four of the brothers switched to working on that vehicle exclusively.

Having a brother as strong as Raphael was a great advantage. Once the removal of the shifter, drive shaft, starter motor and other preliminary steps had been taken, the car was lifted onto tall jack stands. That left room for Raph to slide into place so that he could manhandle the transmission and get it out from under the car.

Fortunately, Don had fully equipped the areas he liked to call 'work spaces'. The transmission overhaul was something he could accomplish himself, so he assigned Raph and Mikey the job of cleaning the engine and the car's interior.

Since one of them needed to give Master Splinter a break from grandpa duties, Leonardo left the work detail to get cleaned up. Don waited until his other two brothers were working and then followed Leo, catching him before he reached the stairs.

"Something wrong, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Don chewed his lip, suddenly feeling foolish. Had his worry over baby Shilo really reached the point where his dreams could make him paranoid?

"It's nothing, Leo," Don said. "Forget it."

"No," Leo said as Don started to turn away. "I know that look on your face. Whatever it is, just say it. Letting it fester won't do either of us any good."

There was no escaping Leo when he was that determined to get at something. "I had a stupid dream last night," Don blurted. "That's all, just a dream. Something in it . . . look, it's just worry, like you pointed out yesterday."

"I also said to share that worry," Leo said, his gaze softening but no less resolute. "Tell me the dream."

So Don did, including every detail that he could remember. When he was finished, he waiting anxiously for Leo's reaction.

Leo nodded and then chuckled. "I can see how a dream like that would raise all sorts of warning flags," he said. "You do know that's a subconscious memory from a couple of days ago when I was practicing while Shilo's bassinet was nearby, don't you?"

Surprised, Don blinked a few times as he processed that information. "You have to be right," he said. "Just for a second, I thought that Shilo was _in_ the bassinet."

Clapping Don on the shoulder, Leo said, "I'll put your mind at ease. I would and never will do anything dangerous around Shilo. None of us will. When he is older and we are teaching him ninjitsu, we'll do so the way Master Splinter taught us, with safety as the first order of business."

Don looked down and then tilted his head as he lifted it again. "Do you think I'm being foolishly overprotective?"

"I do not," Leo said firmly. "Your instincts are good, Donnie. If there is one thing we've learned from experience, it's to follow those instincts. You should never feel hesitant about sharing any of your concerns with us; we won't bite your head off. Well, okay, Raph might, but you already know how to handle him."

Now it was Don's turn to laugh. "Thanks, Leo. Oh, when you give Shilo his bottle, could you add another ounce? He's getting hungry more often and I think that means he's not getting enough at each mealtime."

"With that kind of appetite, you'd think it was Mikey's blood that mutated him," Leo said as he jogged up the stairs.

There was no sign of April that day, but Casey did come by as it was getting dark outside. Sounds echoed from the garage and as Casey neared the stairs to investigate what progress had been made on the vehicles, he spotted Donatello seated in front of his monitors.

Bypassing the stairs, he walked over to the tall mutant. "Any Foot movement?"

Don glanced up. "No. They each have encrypted cell phones which I've managed to hack, but the only calls they've made is to have fast food delivered. They haven't received any calls at all, or I could run a back trace on where the calls originated."

"That is very scary, my friend," Casey said. While he stared at the monitors, he held up a USB drive. "This is so you don't have to do any hacking to keep up with the police surveillance on Guerra. Detective Young installed equipment in his apartment and in the Latin American bar he operates out of in East Harlem."

"Thanks," Don said, taking the drive from Casey's hand and inserting it into one of his computers.

While he was typing in the necessary commands to bring images up on his screens, Casey looked around. He didn't see Master Splinter, but he could hear the giant rat humming to himself and knew he was in his room. Across the lair, Casey saw Leo seated on the couch under the sun lamps.

Baby Shilo was in his arms, soundly sleeping with his little head resting against Leo's shoulder. Moving closer, Casey saw that the baby had a pacifier in his mouth and that Leo's katana, in their sheaths, sat on a nearby chair. Leo himself also appeared to be asleep.

Casey knew that April would kill him if he didn't get a picture of that scene. Taking great care to make no unnecessary noise, Casey took his phone from his pocket and tiptoed closer. Once he had a good shot, Casey took the picture.

The tiny click was enough to wake Leonardo, who turned only his eyes to find where the sound had come from. Casey grinned at him.

"You've got this whole daddy thing down pat, don't you?" Casey asked.

Leo's eyes flicked down to the sleeping baby as Casey took a seat on the unoccupied chair.

"I never realized how much work Don does around here until I told him I'd take care of Shilo today," Leo admitted. He added quickly, "Not that I mind spending time with the little guy. We're bonding."

Casey was amused at how Leo hadn't argued with being assigned the role of 'daddy'. He kept that to himself though.

"Guerra and his guys are still mum," Casey reported. "I gave Don a way to watch the surveillance cameras we put up in the man's home and office. He told me that the Foot are laying low."

"They are well trained and disciplined," Leo said. "More so it seems than when Shredder was running things. I get the impression that Karai is much more cautious than her mentor."

"She probably doesn't have the same dream of world domination that Shredder did," Casey said. "Still, I'd rather she wasn't around to hold the Foot clan together. She and Stockman both have a lot to answer for. And the streets will never be safe with Bebop and Rocksteady running around loose. Those two are lunatics."

"Just how is Chief Vincent going to handle jailing them?" Leo asked. "There can't be a public trial or everyone will learn about their mutation."

"I was thinking about that," Casey said. "You know that purple stuff that April stole and nearly got herself killed over? Any chance there's enough of it left to change that pair back into humans?"

Leo shook his head. "We destroyed the only vial."

"Actually, we didn't."

Both Casey and Leo looked up to see a somewhat sheepish Donatello standing nearby.

Frowning, Leo said, "What do you mean, Donnie? I saw it smashed against the wall."

"The vial was smashed, but the thicker ends of the vial survived," Don said. "I saw that when I went to clean up the mess after we defeated Krang. There was still mutagen in them, enough to turn Bebop and Rocksteady human again. At least, I think so."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Leo asked.

"Because that stuff had made us fight with each other," Don said. "I didn't want that temptation to separate us again. I only saved it because I realized that Shredder's experiments had to be returned to normal before they could be brought to justice."

"April saw the original transformation," Casey said. "She could tell you how much of the stuff Shredder used to mutate Bebop and Rocksteady."

"I'll ask her," Don said and then looked at Leo. "Should I ask her?"

"Yes, ask her," Leo told him. "It's okay, I'm not angry, Donnie. I understand your reasoning. I'd like for us all to be past feeling as though we have to keep things from each other."

"What the hell, is everybody slacking but Mikey and me?" Raph asked as he came into the lair and saw his brothers with Casey.

"We're working," Casey assured him.

Mikey popped up behind Raph. "It looks like Leo's napping with Shilo. How is that work?"

"You were the one intent on assigning roles," Don said. "Uncles labor and dads mind the kids."

A mischievous twinkle lit Mikey's blue eyes. "Donatello is on maternity leave."

"I'm what?" Don asked, spinning on his brother.

"I read that human moms take time off after they have a baby," Mikey said. "You know, to bond with the baby and work out to get rid of the extra weight they've gained during the pregnancy."

"I wasn't preg . . . never mind," Don said. "I'm not having this discussion."

"See how much more mature he is after having a baby?" Mikey asked.

"So Casey, ya' bringing us some news?" Raph asked.

Casey filled them in on the latest and then Leo took up where he left off, telling them about the mutagen that Don had recovered.

When he finished, the group watched Raph, half expecting an angry reaction. He knew it too.

"Hey, I made my peace with our decision," Raph said, waving a hand in the air. "If Don recovered some of that stuff, then to me that sounds like kismet. We're the only mutants that are supposed to be here, the other two have to go."

"If we can find them," Mikey said.

"Oh, we'll find them," Casey said. "It's just a matter of when. Police work is about patience and biding your time while you wait for the bad guys to slip up."

"Patience huh?" Raph said, smiling. "You actually got any of that, Jones?"

The next couple of days were a sore trial for all them. The Foot clan members that Don had tagged with tracking devices went nowhere and were in touch with no one. There had been a break-in at a market in the target area, but only small amounts of food were taken.

"Ya' sure those guys ain't wearing different sets of pants, Donnie?" Raph asked. "How many goon outfits do ya' think each of them have?"

"I haven't left that to chance," Don said. "Not only do I know the phones they carry, but I've got access to every camera near the places where they live. I've got better surveillance on them than the police have on Guerra."

"Speaking of Guerra, what'd he do last night after the police let him go?" Raph asked.

"He went back to his apartment, got cleaned up, and had dinner delivered," Don said. "He stayed put."

"Probably figured he had a tail," Raph said. "I feel like all these guys know we're watching them and ain't gonna make a move. It's ticking me off."

"Has anyone heard from April," Leo asked.

"No," Don said. "I talked to Casey after Guerra left the station last night. He said April's been around the neighborhood where Colón was killed and where her body was dumped, trying to find witnesses or even anyone else who knew her. She's getting nibbles here and there, but mostly people are scared to talk."

Leo frowned. "Does she know that Guerra's been released?"

"Casey said he wasn't going to pass along that information," Don said. He shrugged. "She's a reporter, she probably knew as soon as it happened. Before you ask, Casey does know I've activated the GPS tracking on his and April's phones, but I haven't had a chance to tell her that."

"So you've been monitoring her treks into East Harlem?" Raph asked.

"She's been going there during the day," Don said. "I think she's being cautious like we asked."

"Small miracles," Raph muttered.

The mutant family had just finished dinner later that day when Casey arrived toting a large flat box.

"Hey guys, this was waiting for me when I got to my apartment," Casey said. "It's addressed to the Tartaruga brothers."

Mikey rushed over and snatched the box from his hands. "These are the signs we ordered."

"What signs?" Casey asked, sitting down at the kitchen table with Raph.

"Don decided we needed ya' to find us a plain white cargo van so that we can drive around unnoticed," Raph said. "He ordered magnetic signs to go on the sides of the van."

"With different names on them," Mikey said, excitedly opening the box.

He pulled out a pair of signs with the words 'Green Heating and Air' on them.

"Very imaginative," Casey said.

The next set were emblazoned with 'Penyu Brothers'.

"Okay, I give up," Casey said. "Penyu?"

Don walked by carrying Shilo. "That's turtle in Malay."

"That one's mine," Mikey said. "They wouldn't let me name all of them."

"Can't imagine why," Raph said.

"It's better than 'Shell Tough Hardware'," Mikey said as he took the third and last set of signs from the box.

"Now that's a good play on words," Raph replied defensively.

"The car and truck are both ready to be sold," Leo said, interrupting before his brothers could begin bickering. "After you take out your cut, hopefully there will be enough money to purchase a van."

"There should be enough to get you guys a good used van and a couple of other cars to fix up," Casey assured him.

A sudden loud beeping from the direction of Don's computers caught their attention. Raph stood up and took Shilo from Don, who made a beeline for his machines.

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked.

"Are the Foot moving?" Casey asked.

Don shook his head, his eyes glued to one of his monitors. "It's April. I set her GPS tracking signal to notify me if she went near Guerra's home or the bar. According to this, she's at the bar. Guerra got there a couple of hours ago."

"Get it . . . get it up on the screen," Casey urged as he maneuvered between two large turtles so that he could be close to the monitor.

There were four hidden cameras inside the bar and Don swiftly accessed the feed from each one, assigning it to different displays. The pictures came up just as April O'Neil entered the seedy establishment. Behind her was Vern Fenwick, carrying his TV camera.

"Can we get sound on this thing?" Leo asked.

Don's fingers danced over the keyboard and the low murmur of voices came through the speakers. As he made adjustments, the watchers saw two men step in front of April, blocking her path.

The establishment was long and narrow, with a wooden bar that ran nearly the length of the building. There was a wooden beam beneath the front window that served as a table for patrons wanting a street view, and barstools along the bar itself.

At the back there were three stairs that led to bathrooms on the left side of the wall. In the center was a door over which a lit 'Exit' sign was mounted. To the right of the exit were two tables, side by side. Guerra sat at one of them.

By the time that Don got the sound turned up, April had already said something to one of the men blocking her way. He looked back over his shoulder at another man who was sitting at the bar. Since that man had been close enough to hear what April said, he got up and walked back to Guerra.

After whispering something in Guerra's ear, the man straightened and remained where he was. Guerra lifted a hand and waved two fingers in a clear 'come here' signal.

The two men barricading the way turned to the side so that April could slip between them. Before Vern could follow, the wall of bodies had closed again, denying him passage.

 _"O'Neil!"_ Vern called out to get her attention.

April turned partway and saw that Vern wasn't to be allowed any farther inside. _"It's okay, Vern."_

It was clear from the way Vern shifted from foot to foot that he was not comfortable with the situation, but he stayed where he was as April continued on to the back of the bar.

"Dammit," Casey said from between clenched teeth. "I need to get over there."

"We'll give ya' a lift," Raph said. "The garbage truck's a lot faster than it looks."

"Donnie, can you stay here and watch what happens?" Leo asked. "Keep us apprised of the situation."

"Sure," Don said, getting out of his chair so he could take Shilo from Raph. He rolled the bassinet near his workstation and put the baby into it as his brothers and Casey climbed into the truck.

Don's attention returned to the surveillance feeds just as April reached Guerra's table.

 _"You're that reporter who came flying down the street the other night and shoved a microphone in my face,"_ Guerra said in a mild tone. He waved at the chair in front of him. _"Please, sit down."_

April accepted the seat, flashing one of her best smiles at Guerra. She had taken the time to put on a simple but figure flattering black dress and three inch heels. The neckline wasn't plunging, but it was low enough to hint at a better view when she leaned forward, which she was now doing.

 _"My name is April O'Neil,"_ April said. _"I'm a reporter with Channel 6 news. My boss asked me to do a series of reports on this neighborhood, based on the increase in crime, and focusing on the death of a woman named Lia Colón."_

 _"So you said before,"_ Guerra replied before taking a sip from the glass that sat near his right hand. _"Would you like something to drink?"_

 _"No, thank you,"_ April said.

 _"Then I don't know why you are here,"_ Guerra said. _"I was conducting business when you asked me about this woman before or I would have told you I know nothing of this person. I am telling you that now."_

 _"Word on the street is that Colón was your girlfriend,"_ April said.

 _"My girlfriend?"_ Guerra chuckled and looked up at the man who was still standing nearby. _"Do I have a girlfriend, Javier?"_

 _"Several of them, Hector,"_ Javier answered. _"I don't remember one called Colón."_

 _"That's interesting, because from what I heard, you had set her up in an apartment and were paying all of her bills,"_ April said, her gaze unwavering.

 _"You have beautiful eyes, April,"_ Guerra said. _"Do you mind that I call you April? I feel like if you are going to try to know me through the girls I have slept with, that we should be on a first name basis."_

 _"The footprint of a man can often be measured by looking at those with whom he associates,"_ April said. " _Lia Colón had a criminal record. She was a hooker and a drug abuser. My understanding is that you didn't want her doing either of those things. You managed to stop her from selling herself, but she couldn't shake her taste for heroin."_

 _"That is not true,"_ Guerra said vehemently. For the first time during the interview he looked perturbed.

 _"Then you did know her,"_ April said smoothly. _"I thought you might have, since the police took you into custody over her killing and held you for three days."_

 _"Everything they have is circumstantial,"_ Guerra said, his eyes narrowed and posture stiff. _"Their so called evidence could implicate a dozen people."_

 _"I've been given to understand that you're a pillar of the community,"_ April said. _"A leader. Surely you would know something that would help to track down her killer, especially since Lia was close enough to you to become pregnant with your child."_

Donatello hissed. "Bad move, April. Don't bring up the baby," he muttered under his breath.

 _"You got that from the cop,"_ Guerra said harshly. _"What did he tell you? Did he tell you where my son is?"_

April was not easily frightened, but Don could see from her body language that she'd realized she shouldn't have mentioned the pregnancy.

 _"I tried talking to the police officer,"_ April said. _"He wouldn't tell me anything. I've been piecing this story together from things I've heard and tips I've picked up at the precinct. The baby was a rumor, which it seems you've just verified."_

Guerra stood up suddenly. _"Bitch, we ain't playing word games about my son. If you know something about him, you'd best tell me right now."_

From across the bar, Vern called out, _"I'm filming this interview, Mr. Guerra."_

When Guerra's attention shifted to the cameraman, April got out of her chair _. "Thank you for taking a few moments to speak to me, Mr. Guerra. I don't have any more questions for you just now."_

Vern was trying to keep his camera steady as the two men blocking his way began pushing him towards the door. One of them tried to yank the camera out of his hands, but Vern was seasoned enough to have the strap wound around his arm.

April retreated from the bar at a quick clip. She never looked behind her, keeping her head held high and giving the appearance of being completely unafraid.

The man called Javier put out a hand and caught Guerra's arm to stop him from following her. Guerra angrily shook it loose before downing the rest of his drink and then slowly leaving the table to make his way to the front window.

Once April and Vern were out of the bar, the two bodyguards went back inside. The van was parked a few cars away and when Vern reached it, he slid the side door open and deposited his camera inside.

"You do like to flirt with danger," Vern said, shaking the arm that the strap had been attached to. "My arm is numb."

"That man is . . . ." April began.

She didn't get a chance to finish the sentence. The turtles' garbage truck pulled to a stop in the middle of the street alongside the news van and Casey sprang out.

Rushing to her, Casey said, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," April said.

Casey kept talking, stepping on her words. "What were you thinking? Didn't I tell you that man isn't right in the head?"

"Thank you, Casey. I've just figured that out for myself," April said, trying to disguise the tremor in her voice.

Though his first instinct was to continue to chastise her, the fright in her voice finally got through to him. Vern caught his eye and shook his head.

"Look, I know you're good at your job," Casey said, stepping close to April and cupping her elbows in his hands. "Just next time, let us back you up, okay? I'm not bad at staying out of sight and I know four guys who are excellent at that. I promise we won't cramp your style. Think of us as an extra layer of protection."

"I'll take it if you won't," Vern said.

April laughed and put her hands on Casey's arms. Looking up at him, she said, "So you'll be what, my bubble wrap?"

Laughing as well, Casey said, "Yep. Just call me bubble wrap man."

"Yuck," Vern said as he slid the van door shut and crossed around the front to get into the driver's seat.

Casey and April stood for another few seconds, staring into each other's eyes, before she disentangled herself from him and got into the van.

Neither of them knew that Guerra had observed their entire interaction.

TBC….


	16. Chapter 16

Castoff  
part 16

"Donnie, guys, I am so sorry," April said. "I did not mean to say a word about Colón's pregnancy or the baby. That man was just so smug and insufferable that something in me snapped. I wanted to knock him off his high horse and the next thing I knew, I was blurting it out."

It was the next day. After the disastrous interview the evening before, April had gone back to the news station with Vern and Casey had returned to the lair with the turtles.

When they had gotten back they could see from the stricken look on Don's face that something was wrong. He had wasted no time on preliminaries, instead indicating that they should gather around him so that he could play back April's interview with Guerra.

This was his second replay, done so that April could view the entire thing, including how Guerra had spied on them through the bar's front window. The troubled expression had not left Donatello's face and April didn't need to be a genius to know that she had let him down.

Casey pointed at the computer screen, now frozen as it showed Guerra at the front window of the bar looking out at them. "That is exactly why I didn't want you to confront this man," he said. "He's not right in the head. If his men hadn't been there to stop him, if the camera hadn't been there, he would've attacked you. Now he believes you know where his child is and that we're working together."

April seemed near tears. "Don't you think I've been beating myself up? It's not just that I've fed his obsession, but for a moment I forgot that the police had the place under surveillance. Now they know a baby connects Guerra to Colón. It gives the man motive for her death, but it also means the police will want to find the baby too."

"They already know the woman gave birth just before her death," Casey said. "The autopsy gave them that information. The pregnancy was already on their list of possible motives for her death. What the detectives didn't know was that the child was Guerra's and that he's looking for it."

"They will be searching for Shilo," Don said in a low voice. "Guerra thought he could find the baby through Casey, now he's going to believe the two of you are conspiring to hide Shilo from him."

"I've made things worse, just like I did when Sacks tricked me into leading the Foot Clan to your first home," April lamented.

"You are family, April. We survived that attack with your assistance. By sticking together as a family, we will defeat this menace as well. Do not worry," Master Splinter said.

A sudden resolute look settled over Don's face and he put his arms around her, pulling her in for a quick hug. Stepping back, he looked at her and said, "Like Casey said, Guerra isn't sane. He wasn't going to stop looking for his child anyway. He'll never find him and neither will the police. We'll all make certain of that."

"Can you forgive me?" April asked hopefully.

"There's nothing to forgive," Leo said. "You were given an assignment and were doing your job. Now it's up to us to do ours. We've got to figure out a way to prove that Guerra was responsible for Colón's death."

"One that doesn't involve producing a baby," Casey said. "I'm waiting for Chief Vincent to get back to her office so I can do damage control. She's been getting daily updates on this case from Detective Young, who's coordinating the reports on the surveillance."

"Can't you just erase the part where April's in the bar, Donnie?" Mikey asked.

Don shook his head. "It's a live feed. We see it at the same time the police do. The only thing in our favor is that the outside camera's viewing range is limited to the door and adjacent sidewalk. It didn't catch the exchange between April and Casey outside or him jumping out of our truck."

"Guerra sure as hell did," Casey said. "I'm taking off. I may have to sit in Vincent's waiting room for a couple hours before she can see me. Maybe I can talk her out of suspending me for withholding information by making her believe I didn't have any."

He left the lair without a backward glance. For a few minutes everyone was quiet, until Shilo started whine. Don went to retrieve the baby turtle from his bassinet.

"Casey's really mad at me, isn't he?" April asked.

"He ain't happy," Raph said. Glancing at the woman, he added, "It's only 'cause he got the crap scared out of him when he saw ya' waltz into that bar after dark. We thought you'd restrict your movements in that area of town to daylight hours."

"I wanted to catch him as soon as I could," April said. "I was hoping his guard would be down after learning the police didn't have enough to hold him." She looked over at Don, who was cradling Shilo in his arms. "I'd never do anything that would place that baby in danger."

"I know," Don said. "Logically I also know that Guerra won't ever find the lair or Shilo."

"It's the mommy hormones," Mikey said. "Don freaks out on general principle."

"I didn't give birth, Mikey, therefore I can't possibly have a hormonal response," Don said, shooting a dirty look in his brother's direction.

"Mood swings too," Mikey said to April, nodding sagely. "Don't you worry, girl. We've got this totally under control."

April couldn't help but smile at Mikey's antics. The orange banded turtle had a way of easing the worst situations.

"I should get back to work," April said. "I've got to file a report on what I've learned so far. Don't worry, I will leave out most of my interview with Guerra. I'll just report that he refused to answer questions regarding his criminal activities. Vern has already deleted the recording he made of our encounter."

Michelangelo walked April out, talking the entire way. After they were gone, Raph caught Leo's eye and tipped his head in Don's direction. Their brother had taken Shilo over to his computer station and was now seated in front of the bank of monitors.

All of his screens had views from the police surveillance cameras. One of them was strategically placed inside Guerra's apartment. On it they could see Guerra seated on his couch watching a program on his large screen television. Some of the men who worked for him were there as well, including the man he'd addressed as 'Javier'. The volume on the TV had been turned up so that the conversation between Guerra and Javier could not be heard.

"He knows that the police are spying on him," Don said when Leo and Raph came to stand near him.

"Or maybe he's always that cautious," Raph said.

Javier seemed to be Guerra's right hand man and it looked as if they were arguing about something. The other men in the room appeared discomfited by the conversation.

"Whatever is going on with them, they don't seem to be in agreement," Leo said.

"If it was me, I'd be telling Guerra to forget Colón and the kid," Raph said. "He doesn't seem to be the baby type and that macho crap is gonna get him in trouble."

"I think we can leave this to the police for now," Leo said firmly. "Casey and April both know to watch their backs. Our focus should be on finding Bebop and Rocksteady. Don, let's see what you've got on the Foot you've been tracking."

"Here, give me my nephew," Raph said, plucking Shilo from Don's arms. Keeping the baby against his chest and supported on one beefy arm, Raph smiled when Shilo's eyes fixed on him. "How about we get some grub little guy? You're gonna grow up big and strong like your Uncle Raph."

He moved off towards the kitchen with Shilo. Leo remained next to Don, whose fingers were skimming over his keyboard. Four of his screens switched away from the surveillance feeds on Guerra to the small red blips that indicated where the tagged Foot soldiers were currently located.

Each blip was fixed to a map of the area where the Foot were holed up. A quick set of commands split each screen so that one half showed a live feed from cameras near each building.

Don pointed at the screen. "People forget how many cameras there are in the city," he explained. "It's not just the ones that the police have installed; there are thousands of private cameras as well."

"Our guys haven't moved?" Leo asked.

"Not an inch," Don said.

"Let's keep an eye on them," Leo said. "Bebop and Rocksteady have to be running low on food since there haven't been any big hauls in the last five days. We need to be ready to move as soon as they do."

"I'm on it, Leo," Don said. "Oh, I put our two vehicles for sale online. Casey told me what he thought we could get for them. He's checking the impound lot here and in Jersey for a white panel van. He told me they usually have a few of them because they are a favorite with both drug and people traffickers."

"If we get one, no tricking it out," Leo said. "At least not on the outside. We need at least one vehicle that can go into any neighborhood without drawing anyone's notice."

"Make sure you tell Mikey that," Don said. "Just after we got the magnetic signs I saw him doodling design ideas on a pad of paper."

The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. Shilo had a bath care of Raph and Leo, who both wound up getting wet in the process. While the baby slept, the turtles had a training session with Master Splinter and afterwards each separated to do their own thing.

Casey came by later in the afternoon to let them know he'd accepted an offer on the car.

"We actually had a little bidding war going on," Casey said. "I took the best offer. You guys did a great job restoring it. The man who bought it is meeting me at the precinct with a certified check. It's enough to cover the cost of the van I found. I looked it over and it's in pretty good shape, so you won't have to put much work into fixing it up."

"How'd it go with Chief Vincent?" Raph asked.

"I'm not suspended," Casey said. "Turned out she was more concerned about having a reporter getting into the middle of the investigation than she was in learning that Guerra was the father of Colón's baby. The detectives had already followed every lead on the whereabouts of the baby and they all dead ended. Their theory was that the baby's father found out she killed the child and dumped it in the river and that's why he offed her. Now because the surveillance indicates that Guerra is the dad and has been looking for the baby, the detectives think maybe Colón gave the baby to someone, maybe even sold him for drugs."

"Will they keep trying to find Shilo?" Don asked.

Casey shook his head. "Doubt it. I mean, if they got some clue to his whereabouts they wouldn't ignore it. Having the baby's DNA as proof of Guerra's biological donation would strengthen their case against the man, but it's not going to be what puts Guerra behind bars for the murder."

"I'm beginning to think that nothing will," Raph said gruffly.

"We need the proverbial smoking gun and we don't have it," Casey said. "Just so you know, Guerra hasn't stopped looking for his kid. He's got a lot of his men out on the streets terrorizing anyone he thinks might know something. From what I've gathered, he's letting other business slide and that's not sitting well with some members of the Mala Noche."

"That must have been the reason for Guerra's argument with Javier earlier," Leo said. He told Casey what they'd seen on the surveillance of Guerra's apartment. "It was clear to us that they both knew the police might be monitoring their activities. I can't imagine that having that kind of heat directed at their gang would make any of them happy."

"I don't think Guerra has enough sense to let it go," Casey said. "He's bent on proving he's man enough to father a kid."

"Then he'll make a mistake," Mikey said. "The bad guys always do, don't they? When they get obsessed about something?"

"Yeah, that's probably what's got his gang worried," Raph said.

"One of you guys want to open the tunnel so I can drive the car out of here?" Casey asked. "I'm supposed to meet the buyer at seven. That'll give me time to wash the car."

"I've got it," Raph said and headed to the tunnel with Casey.

Night fell and still the Foot clan ninjas did not make a move. Donatello monitored the police frequencies, listening for reports of food thefts, but there were none. The only activities around the places the four Foot soldiers called home were their own fast food deliveries.

It was nearing midnight when the police scanner in Don's lab began to squawk. Don had been seated on the couch under the sun lamps with Shilo, reading to the baby, when the sound drew his attention. His father, who was next to him, took the baby so that Don could investigate what it was that had caused the alert.

Leo was quick to join him as Don dropped into his desk chair and rolled up to his computer array. Seeing the flurry of activity, Raph jumped down from the weight room to meet them. Mikey finished washing baby bottles and left the kitchen to see what had caused the excitement.

Don's fingers danced over the keyboard as he talked. "There was a break-in at the TCRI building. I'm pulling up the security feeds now. It's gotta be Stockman. He'd know exactly where everything is in the building and probably built back doors into the security systems."

Police dispatchers were still calling out instructions over the scanner and reports were starting to come in. Whoever had broken in to the building were gone, but the police were searching the surrounding area for the thieves.

A camera located near the back loading dock had filmed two large trucks backing up to the shipping doors. The back door of the lead truck slid open and several people garbed entirely in black leaped out. One of them partially scaled the side of the building in order to spray paint the lens on the security camera, while another climbed a power pole in order to do the same to a second camera.

"Switching to interior cameras," Don said.

The screen flashed to a shot from inside the shipping area. It showed the door sliding open and the thieves flowing into the building. One of them immediately disabled the camera.

"Damn Foot," Raph growled. "If they're painting the cameras so no one knows it was them they did a piss poor job of it."

The Foot repeated the process with each security camera they encountered as they entered the lobby of the building. Their progress was caught by the cameras inside the pair of elevators they took. Before they covered those lenses with paint, Don zoomed in on the control panel to see which floor they had been accessing.

"The thirty-sixth floor. That's the floor where Stockman's lab was," Don said. "It's where all of his equipment is located."

"They aren't painting the cameras to keep people from knowing the Foot were responsible for the theft," Leo said. "They're doing it so no one knows what they're stealing."

"I downloaded a list of the equipment and chemicals Stockman had in his lab," Don said. "They never cleared it out after he disappeared and no one has been in there. It took me a day to hack in to his personal secured server so I doubt even the TCRI management knew what he was doing. I don't know why the police never raided the lab . . . ."

"Another time, Donnie," Leo interrupted. "What's in there that they'd want to take?"

Don looked up at him. "Neutronium. He must have gotten it from the parts that made up the Arc Capacitor. There were schematics in his files and he'd already begun to duplicate those parts. If that's what the Foot retrieved from his lab, then it has to be because Stockman is trying to recreate the Arc Capacitor in order to open another portal."

"Now we know why they're trying to keep such a low profile," Raph said.

"They're trying to bring the Shredder back," Mikey said.

"To bring back the Shredder they'll have to bring Krang back as well," Leo said.

"Which means the Technodrome comes with him," Don said. "The whole cycle will start over again."

"We're not going to let that happen," Leo said. "Why didn't you get a signal from your tracking devices that the Foot were on the move?"

"Because those four didn't go anywhere," Don said. "They must be assigned to the food retrieval unit."

Don's shoulder mounted com unit beeped and he quickly answered it in speaker mode. "Hey Casey."

" _I'm at a break-in at the TCRI building,"_ Casey said, talking fast. _"I'm pretty sure it was the Foot clan."_

"It was," Don said. "We were just looking at the security feeds from the building."

" _They bypassed the alarm system somehow,"_ Casey said. _"If it weren't for a night janitor, we wouldn't have known about it until morning. The police are going floor by floor trying to discover what they were after."_

"The police must not have looked at the recordings yet," Leo said. "They were after equipment on the thirty-sixth floor. That's where Stockman's lab was located."

"Before ya' ask, they were stealing stuff that Stockman can use to open another portal," Raph said.

They could hear Casey cursing under his breath as Don typed in a series of commands on his keyboard. A moment later images of the two trucks popped up on his monitors. It showed them driving away from the TCRI building and then splitting off from each other to go in different directions. A moment later both disappeared.

"That's impossible," Don said, jumping from one street camera to another. "Stockman must have created something to make those trucks invisible to the cameras. I've got license plate numbers, Casey. Pass them along and maybe a patrol unit will spot the trucks."

He read the two plate numbers out to Casey and then sent pictures of each plate to the man.

" _Thanks,"_ Casey said. _"Let me get this out over the air. They've got a big head start on us so I'll tell the guys to widen the search area."_

He signed off and Don returned to reviewing security footage, shaking his head as he flipped from screen to screen.

"That Krang guy was no fun the first time around," Mikey said.

"There won't be a second time," Leo said. "We're going to find Karai and Stockman and we're going to shut them down."

"Bebop and Rocksteady have to be on guard duty for the Foot," Don said. "Our best bet for finding them and Stockman is to stay on those food thefts."

After agreeing that's all they could do for the moment, the brothers returned to their previous activities, with Mikey taking over Shilo's care so that Don could remain at his computers.

Updates were slow coming in but after a couple of hours it was clear that the police weren't going to find the trucks. Master Splinter, Leo, and Raph finally turned in for the night. Before Leo went up to bed he admonished Don not to stay up all night.

The TV was on low in the background and a short time after the rest of the family had gone to bed, Mikey walked over to Don's workstation. He was holding Shilo against his shoulder and the baby was fussing, though he hadn't started to cry yet.

"I think Shilo wants his mama," Mikey said. "I tried to put him down for the night but he's not happy about it."

Don quickly stood up to take the baby from his brother. As soon as Shilo was cradled in Don's arms he stopped whining.

"See?" Mikey said. "Moms always have the magic touch."

"You are not going to stop calling me that, are you?" Don asked.

Mikey grinned. "Shilo likes it and it's less confusing anyway. When he gets older and yells 'dad' how are you and Leo supposed to know which one of you he wants?"

"I'm still trying to figure out how you decided that Leo is supposed to be the dad," Don said as he walked up to their shared bedroom.

He sat on his bed and rocked back and forth, his gaze fixed on Shilo's face. Shilo stared up at him and then his little eyes began to close. Within minutes the baby was fast asleep.

Mikey stood next to him while Don was rocking the baby and he followed after his brother as he put the infant turtle into his crib. They both stood looking down at the baby.

"I think he's the best thing that ever happened to our family," Mikey said, keeping his voice low. "No regrets, right Donnie?"

"No regrets at all," Don said as he watched his child sleep.

TBC…


	17. Chapter 17

Castoff  
part 17

Around mid-morning the next day the trucks were found. They'd been abandoned in a seedy part of the city and completely stripped.

Casey delivered the news after bringing over the van he'd purchased. While the brothers inspected the large white cargo van, Casey told them how a patrol car had spotted the trucks.

"Everything was gone," Casey said. "Parts were even removed from the engine. No prints were found, no biologicals of any kind, and no clue as to what was stolen from the lab."

"It doesn't matter," Don said, his voice muffled due to his head being under the hood. "We already know what they took."

"Were there any cameras in the area?" Leo asked.

Casey shook his head. "The city's tried to install cameras in that area, but they are either vandalized or stolen right away."

"Those trucks were left in a place that ain't that far from where all the food thefts have been happening," Raph said. "At least we know we got the right area pinned down."

Mikey was inside the back of the van and stuck his head out. "Now we just have to pin _them_ down. Hey, there's actually a lot of room in here."

"It's got a six liter V8 small block engine," Don said, slamming the hood closed. "After a few modifications, this puppy will practically fly."

"Don't start pulling it apart just yet, Donnie," Leo admonished. "There are too many things at play right now. We might need the van on a moment's notice."

"It was part of a drug dealer's fleet," Casey said. "The van is in great working condition. It had to be. Can't have your van full of coke breaking down in the middle of the street."

"It's not going to be recognized by anyone, is it?" Leo asked with some concern.

"Nah. I pulled some strings and got the plates changed." Casey grinned mischievously. "I registered it under 'Tartaruga Brothers Enterprises'."

A loud beeping from inside the lair caught their attention and Don raced past his brothers and Casey. The group jumped to catch up to the long limbed turtle.

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked as his brother rolled up to his computer station.

Typing in a series of commands, Don pulled an image up on one of the monitors. It was the Foot symbol.

"I'm monitoring the Foot soldiers' cell phones," Don explained. "I get a notification whenever any of the four receive a message. All four of them just received this one."

"Is that all?" Raph asked. "Just that symbol?"

"It's probably all they need," Don said, turning in his chair. "It's a prearranged signal. I'll bet they're on the move tonight."

"Good," Raph said, cracking his knuckles. "I was getting tired of sitting around waiting."

"While you are waiting, perhaps one of you could change Shilo's diaper," Master Splinter said, approaching the group with the squirming baby turtle in his arms. "My days of performing this task are over. I have seen enough dirty diapers in my time."

Don started to get up but Leo moved first, taking Shilo from his father. "Stay on those men, Donnie. We need to know when they move and where they go."

Mikey went along with Leo to the changing table in their bedroom as Don returned to his computers. While his focus was on that, Raph signaled to Casey and the pair returned to the tunnel.

Neither said anything as they walked over to the truck that Casey had brought for them to refurbish. He ran his hands over the paint job and then leaned into the interior to look it over.

"You guys did a great job with this truck," Casey said. "I'll bet it sells pretty fast."

"That's all Donnie," Raph told him. "My bro' hardly sleeps."

"I'll wager he gets even less of it now that you have a kid," Casey said as he straightened up.

Raph shrugged. "We have to monitor him. It's not like there ain't five of us to watch over Shilo." He watched as Casey lifted the hood to look at the engine. "Have ya' talked to April?"

"About what?" Casey said with feigned indifference.

"Ya' know what I mean," Raph said, not at all fooled by his friend's behavior. "Ya' also know what she does for a living and who she is. Ya' ever seen her run away from danger?"

Casey crossed his arms. "No. I guess that's one of the things I find attractive about her. But I can worry, can't I?"

"Sure, go ahead," Raph said. "Just don't try to change her and don't stay mad at her for doing what comes natural. Ya' wouldn't want _her_ acting like ya' can't take care of yourself, would ya'?"

"No I would not," Casey said. "I see your point. I'll give her a call later."

"April will want to know that the Foot might be making a move tonight. She'll want to be a part of whatever goes down," Raph warned.

"I guess I'd rather have her with me than wandering off on her own," Casey said with a laugh.

After reminding Raph to call him when and if the Foot started moving, Casey left. Heading back into the lair, Raph found that Don was in his lab, looking at something under a microscope. Moving a little closer, Raph saw that it was purple in color and figured it was some of the remaining mutagen.

"What're ya' working on?" Raph asked.

Without taking his eyes from the microscope, Don said, "I'm trying to see if I can replicate this mutagen. From April's description of the hypodermic used on Bebop and Rocksteady, it sounds as if they each received a one point oh milliliter dose. I've only got a little over half that for each of them. Since they started out as human, it should be enough to reverse the cell level changes that mutated them, but it would be better to be certain of that."

"If ya' don't have that nailed down by tonight, it ain't gonna matter," Raph said. "We'll have to shoot those two with whatever we do have and keep our fingers crossed."

"I suppose so," Don said as he scribbled calculations on a sheet of paper.

Raph watched his brother for a few minutes and then asked, "Donnie, did it ever occur to ya' to use that stuff on Shilo?"

His brother's head jerked to the side, his eyes wide behind the lenses of his glasses. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," Raph said. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, he went on. "Maybe 'cause he'd have more chances if he was human. He could live out in the open, go to school, be normal, get a wife and have his own kids someday."

Don frowned. "I imagine that if he'd been healthy to start with I might have thought of that," he said. "He wasn't. His birth defect might reappear if we changed him back again."

"Might," Raph said.

"I'm a scientist," Don said, pushing his glasses up higher. "I don't make a definitive statement that isn't backed by solid proof. Does it bother you that much to have a baby in our home?"

Raph lifted his hands defensively. "It doesn't bother me at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the little guy with everything I am. I just . . . I want to do what's best for him. I can't help thinking how we were when we were little. Ya' know, watching the outside world through a sewer grate and wondering why we couldn't be up there with everyone else."

"I remember," Don said. His expression grew thoughtful. "Am I being selfish by not entertaining the thought that I could change Shilo back again?"

"To be honest, I was hoping you'd say you couldn't," Raph said. "I felt like I had to put that question out there while we still had some of that purple stuff."

"You were right to bring it up," Don said. "I've learned a surprising thing about myself since Shilo came along. I don't think analytically when he's the subject of conversation."

Raph chuckled. "If that means you're relying on heart instead of logic, that ain't a bad thing, Donnie."

"There's probably some instinct in there too," Don said with a sly sideways glance at his brother.

The grin Raph was wearing broadened, enjoying the fact that his brother had caught on to the references he'd made to how they tended to categorize themselves. They were interrupted by the sound of Shilo crying.

"Raph!" Leo called from the other side of the lair.

"Sounds like our baby needs to be burped," Raph said as he left the lab.

It was only after he'd gone that Don realized Raph had referred to Shilo as 'our baby'. Don found that reference to be very apropos.

Donatello tried to get back to work figuring out the molecular structure of the purple mutagen, but the conversation he'd had with Raphael kept interfering with his thought processes. He had not once considered the possibility of returning Shilo to human form. Despite the teasing reference to instinct, that really was what had driven Don to directly transfuse the dying baby with his own blood.

The possibility that the infant would be transformed hadn't occurred to him. He simply knew that their blood held healing properties that might save the baby's life. Maybe the mutation was a side effect and Shilo really was completely healed. Maybe he could be returned to human form sans the birth defects that had nearly killed him.

To Don's mind that was a lot of maybes, too many of them to make experimenting with Shilo's life something he was willing to consider. Besides, wasn't it for the greater good of society to change Bebop and Rocksteady back into humans?

Or Don could just add another maybe to the list. Maybe he really was being selfish in wanting to keep his baby. Would there be anyone in the human world who would love Shilo as much as Don did? What would happen to him if the state insisted on returning Shilo to his biological father?

It was the thought of Shilo being raised by a gang kingpin that hardened Donatello's resolve. Being a mutant turtle might deprive Shilo of a lot of things, but not the love he deserved. Between Don and his brothers, they could provide Shilo with everything he'd need. Plus, Shilo would have something the brothers didn't have while growing up, human friends.

About an hour later, after determining that he didn't have the wherewithal to replicate the mutagen, Don left his lab to check on Shilo. He could hear Mikey and Leo's voices coming from the dojo, followed a moment later by Master Splinter's.

He found Raphael in the television corner, seated on the couch beneath a sunning lamp. Draped plastron down across one large forearm was Shilo, his head cupped in Raph's hand. The baby was sound asleep and fully unclothed, and Raph's eyes were closed, his cheek pressed against Shilo's.

Don remained motionless as he took in the scene. He knew his brother wasn't asleep, but from his position it was clear that Raph was relishing his quiet moment with the baby turtle.

Just as he'd started to slowly back away, Raph's eyes opened. He lifted his head so that he wouldn't wake Shilo and said, "Master Splinter said he should spend some time every day under the lamp. Without clothes is better."

"True. Do you remember that spot in the tunnels where Dad used to take us?" Don asked.

"Sure do," Raph said. "We'd get so warm and comfy we didn't want to leave. He'd end up sitting with us until the sun shifted to where it wasn't coming through the grate anymore."

"We should find a place like that to take Shilo," Don said. "He's going to need some natural sunlight."

"Don't have to," Raph said. "Casey's place is kind of a dive, but there's a subbasement in his building that we can get to from a maintenance tunnel. The back stairs are closed off, so no one will see us go up to his apartment. We can open curtains and give Shilo all the sunshine he'll need."

"You've thought about this," Don said, a little surprised.

"Sure I have," Raph said. "Ya' ain't the only one here who wants to do everything they can for Shilo."

The baby kicked against Raph's elbow, snuffling as he rubbed his face against Raph's hand. Raph kissed his head and Shilo settled again.

"If you've got this, I'm going to do a little work on the van," Don said.

"Take off," Raph whispered.

Recalling what Leo had said about not taking the van apart, Don stuck to the basics to ensure that the van was in premium working order. As usual when he was working, Don lost track of time and didn't realize he was hungry until Leo appeared next to him with a sandwich.

"Stop to eat?" Leo asked.

"Oh," Don replied. "Yeah." He grabbed a shop towel to clean his hands and reached for the sandwich. "I changed out the filters and oil, checked all the fluids, and made sure the hoses were connected and didn't have any cracks in them."

"Raph told me what you two talked about," Leo said, catching Don off guard. "You know, Shilo and the mutagen."

Don looked down, wondering what Leo would say next. He'd never disobeyed a direct order but this was different, this wasn't combat, it was family.

"Look Leo, I told Raph that I can't be certain . . . ." Don began.

Leo clapped him on the shoulder. "I don't think you should experiment on Shilo either, Donnie."

Surprised, Don gazed at his brother. "We aren't robbing him of a future?"

"His future is with us, as part of this family," Leo said. "I understood that the moment your blood changed him."

"But you didn't know then that I'd recovered some of the mutagen," Don said.

" _You_ knew you had it though," Leo said. "Here's what I think. The mutation saved Shilo's life. His deformity was negated by having a shell fused to his back. That's how your blood saved him. If you give him the mutagen, the shell goes away. He might still live, but we have no way of knowing that, and even if he did, you can't get around his birth defect."

"No human would ever adopt him," Don said, his voice low. "Not even his father."

"Guerra would disavow Shilo without a second thought," Leo said. "Shilo would be in a state run facility for his entire life, probably hooked up to machines. No one would really care about him. No one would love him the way we do."

Don could feel his eyes misting behind his glasses. Setting the plate down, he removed his glasses on the pretext of cleaning them so that Leo wouldn't see how affected he was.

"Thanks, Leo," Don finally said. "I've been beating myself up about . . . about not using the remaining mutagen on Shilo."

Leo shook his head. "Save it for Bebop and Rocksteady. The last thing this city needs is for those two to remain in their present form for any longer than necessary. They need to go back behind bars as humans."

"There may not be enough mutagen to fully return them to their original forms," Don warned.

"I don't care if it only partially changes them," Leo said. "Anything that makes them less of a menace is fine by me. They certainly deserve whatever happens."

Don returned to working on the van with a lighter heart. Raph had made a good point and was right to bring up the subject of Shilo and the mutagen. It needed to be discussed and thought about. Leave it to Leonardo though to weigh the options and determine the correct course of action with such decisiveness. That was why he was their leader.

As Don was finishing up with the van, he saw Michelangelo walk past the work space carrying a large box. Stepping out into the tunnel, Don called out, "What's that, Mikey?"

"Playpen," Mikey said, stopping to turn around so his brother could see the box. "I set it aside when I was unloading the truck and almost forgot about it. Shilo's getting more active and needs this so he has room to roll around."

"Where are you going to put it?" Don asked.

"I'm gonna move the wing chair back so the playpen can go next to the couch," Mikey said. "That way Shilo will be close to the sun lamps."

"Good idea," Don said.

Mikey stared at him for a moment and then said, "Don't use that purple stuff on Shilo."

"Has everyone talked about this behind my back?" Don asked, frowning.

"Not to me," Mikey said. "I eavesdropped on Raph and Leo. It's the only way I ever find out anything. You guys think I'm not smart enough to understand what's going on."

"That's not true," Don said.

"All heart and no brains," Mikey said. "I remember what Leo said."

"He took it back," Don said. "We were arguing anyway and you know he didn't mean it."

"Yeah, I guess," Mikey replied. "I'm smart enough to know that if the purple stuff puts Shilo back the way he was, he'll be just as messed up as when you found him. I don't need science to tell me that."

"I've come to the same conclusion," Don said. "We're all in agreement, Mikey. The mutagen is for Bebop and Rocksteady."

"Would I have gotten a vote if it came down to that?" Mikey asked.

"Of course you would have," Don said.

Mikey smiled so widely he was practically beaming. "Good. 'Cause I would have voted no and stolen that purple stuff so you couldn't use it on Shilo. Gotta protect my nephew."

He walked away, humming a tune to himself. Donatello had to hand it to his younger brother, Mikey had a way of cutting straight through the clutter right to the core of a situation.

The brothers made putting the playpen together a joint effort and then Mikey went out to pick up dinner from Kevin, their favorite pizza delivery guy. They were eating when Casey arrived with April and Vern.

"I thought we'd hang out here while we waited for the Foot to move," Casey said.

"We brought pizza," Vern said, holding up the boxes he was carrying. "It looks like you already have some."

"You can never have enough pizza," Mikey said. Patting a chair, he added, "Sit next to me, April."

Vern put the boxes down, placed a couple of slices on a plate, and joined Leo and Don in the television corner. Taking the chair next to the playpen, he watched Shilo for a few minutes as the baby explored his own toes.

"He's a lively little guy for his age," Vern remarked.

"Turtles develop faster," Don said. "Even mutant ones."

"Dad said we were all like that at Shilo's age," Leo said.

"That must have been fun for Splinter," Vern said.

The aged rat joined them, hearing that part of the conversation. "There were many worries which I had to overcome in raising four sons," he said. "I had little time to enjoy my babies. Now that I am a grandfather, I can relish Shilo's infancy while my sons do all of the worrying."

The chirping of Donatello's machines alerted them that something was happening with the Foot. Gathering around the computers, the group waited as Don brought up the tracking device locations of the four Foot soldiers he'd tagged.

"Talk to me, Donnie," Leo said.

"They're on the move," Don said. "I've modified my wrist device to receive forwarded messages from these computers. We can follow them to wherever now."

"It's go time," Leo said. "Tonight we bag a warthog and a rhino."

"And a whole lot of other baddies," Raph said.

TBC…..


	18. Chapter 18

Castoff  
part 18

"Donnie, grab that purple mutagen," Leo ordered. "Whatever happens tonight, if you get a clear shot at Bebop and Rocksteady, you take it. No matter what else is going on."

"Got it, Leo," Don said, jumping up from his chair to retrieve the mutagen, which he'd already divided into two hypodermics.

"Should we call Chief Vincent?" April asked.

Casey shook his head. "Not yet. If she sends out the task force now, someone's liable to jump the gun and alert the Foot that they're being followed. Or worse yet, grab them off the street before they can lead us back to Bebop and Rocksteady. These cops have been psyched about the assignment for so long that some of them are wound up a little too tight. We want those two thugs."

"And Karai," Raph said, balling up a fist and punching his open palm.

"We're taking the van," Leo said, leading the way to the garage.

"How about we follow in the truck?" Casey suggested. "Someone might recognize my car, but they don't know the truck, and it has tinted windows. If the Foot split up, we can separate to stay on them."

Vern remained near Don's workstation. "Sounds like both vehicles will be crowded. How about I stay here and babysit?" he asked hopefully.

Raph was on the verge of making a rude comment when Master Splinter cut him off. "That is an excellent idea, Mister Fenwick. I know my sons have been concerned about leaving the baby without enough guardians while his biological father is still looking for him."

"Oh right, his father the _gang_ leader," Vern said, a slightly anxious look on his face as he realized he wasn't quite escaping all possible dangers.

"Here," Casey said, tossing his car keys to Vern. "In case you need to get out of here fast."

"Ain't nothing better happen to Shilo," Raph said, his tone threatening.

Vern drew himself up and puffed out his chest. "I'll protect him with my life," he responded with as much bravado as he could muster.

Don stopped at the stairs leading down to the garage. "He'll need a bottle in a half hour and then monitor his diaper. After he's clean, you'll need to entertain him for a while until he looks tired. Don't overstimulate him or Shilo will never go to sleep."

"Yes, mom," Vern said with a grin.

"Talk to Shilo about your favorite subject," April said. "Yourself. That should put him right to sleep."

"Very funny, O'Neil," Vern said, waving her away.

The two small groups split in the tunnel; the turtles going to the nondescript white van and the humans to the newly renovated truck. Leo stopped at the van's passenger door and asked, "Do you two have your earwigs?"

"Brought them with us," Casey said as both he and April inserted the devices into their ears.

"Lines of communication remain open at all times," Leo said. "See something, say something. If we track the remaining Foot clan down tonight, let's not give them any opportunity to escape."

"The Chief has the entire task force on standby," Casey said. "One phone call and they immediately mobilize. We just have to tell them where to go."

Leo gave him a thumbs up and climbed into the van. Don started the engine and pulled out of the work space. Once the van was in the tunnel, Casey drove out to follow him.

The two vehicles proceeded through the tunnel, both exiting when Don activated the external wall hatch. Don had forwarded the feed from his home computers to his wrist device, which he synched up to a display screen he'd mounted to the van's console. On it they could see the four blips which represented the Foot soldiers.

"April," Don said into his shoulder comm, "I've tied the tracking signal into your watch. Can you see the map?"

 _"I'm looking at it now, Donnie,"_ April said. _"All four dots are moving in the same general direction."_

"They seem to be making straight for the area where most of the food thefts have occurred," Leo said.

"Hell's Kitchen," Raph said, peering between the front bucket seats so he could see the screen.

 _"Isn't it too early?"_ April asked. _"It's just barely nine. The restaurants and shops are still open."_

 _"Maybe they're going to a meeting,"_ Casey said.

"The police presence in that area will be focused on the liveliest neighborhoods," Leo said. "It could be that they mean to hit a spot that is closed at this time of night."

"A place that carries a quantity of food," Don said.

"Warehouse?" Raph asked. "Hell's Kitchen is going high end, the property values are getting up there. Anyone that owned a warehouse would have sold it off."

"Not along the docks. The shipping companies own the majority of those," Don said. He glanced over at Leo and then back at the road. "The police run their patrols where there are crowds. As long as the restaurants are open, the police will be watching them."

"Which means no one other than private security will be keeping an eye on the docks," Leo said, following Don's train of thought.

"Maybe that's where they've been hiding all along," Mikey said.

"I doubt it." Leo shook his head. "During the day there is too much activity in that area. There would be too big a risk of being seen."

"So somewhere close by then," Raph said. "Someplace that ain't been taken over by upscale eateries and such."

 _"There are older business establishments between 495 and West 54th,"_ April said. _"Some residential buildings too, but also quite a few empty buildings. The popular real estate is closer to the water."_

 _"Still a big area,"_ Casey said.

"We're going to narrow that down tonight," Leo said, the resolve in his tone clear.

Raph looked at his older brother, a corner of his mouth lifting in anticipation. "Tonight we're kicking butt and scooping up the whole bunch of them."

Leo reached back to bump his fist against Raph's. The group grew quiet after that as Don trailed the four fast moving blips. As they bypassed the garment district, the Foot ninja split off from one another, a pair of them continuing on towards Hell's Kitchen and the second pair making a straight line for the river.

"They must be on motorcycles," Don said. "Casey, take the pair who are staying on 9th Avenue. We'll keep on the two headed for the Hudson."

 _"Will do,"_ Casey replied.

"What's the plan, Leo?" Mikey asked. "If they're gonna steal something, do we stop them?"

"No, not unless it looks as though they are going to hurt someone," Leo said. "Whatever they steal will have to be taken to wherever Bebop and Rocksteady are holed up."

"Once we have eyes on those two, we grab them," Raph said.

"We notify Chief Vincent so that the police can scoop them up," Leo said, eyeing his brother.

"Sure, sure," Raph said, though his words lacked conviction.

"Raph, I mean it," Leo said. "We can't afford to have the Foot scatter again. The four of us can't surround the lot of them by ourselves."

"Then we should focus on the ones we want," Raph said. "Forget the small fry."

"Those 'small fry' as you call them can delay us long enough for our primary targets to escape," Leo said. "That's what the Foot soldiers are supposed to do."

"Good little soldiers following orders," Raph said, a slight sneer in his tone. "Bet that gets your juices flowing."

"Hey bro's, can we not do this?" Don interrupted. "There's a little baby at home who would like for us to all return in one piece."

Raph's mouth tightened into a thin line. It was clear he still disagreed with Leo, but that he was also taking the time to remember that they had a new obligation.

"How about a compromise?" Leo suggested. "We get the task force on site and then we go after Bebop and Rocksteady ourselves. Casey told me the officers on the task force are all ones who already know about us."

"I can live with that," Raph finally said, relaxing again. "Like ya' said, the cops will have their hands full with the minions. Don't want to give the top dogs and those two mutant nut balls time to slip away."

"See? Compromise is a beautiful thing," Mikey said, smiling at his brothers.

"Ya' know what? I don't care what the plan is as long as it means we take down the Foot clan once and for all," Raph said.

"We will," Leo said. "We'll do it tonight. Before they manage to figure out a way to bring the Shredder back from wherever he went."

 _"Guys,"_ April said, her voice low, _"the two we're following have stopped. They're parked in an alley just off West 45th, between 9th and 10th Avenues. Casey walked down there to take a look and saw that they're still on their bikes, facing out towards the street."_

"They must be keeping watch," Leo said. "Where are you, April?"

 _"Casey found curb parking near the corner,"_ April answered. _"We have good line of sight on that alley from here."_

"They can't see you?" Leo asked.

 _"We blend in with the other vehicles,"_ Casey said. _"I made sure not to follow closely enough for them to notice us."_

"Stay put and let us know if they move," Leo said. "I have a feeling we'll be headed your direction soon enough."

"Casey, what's on that block?" Don cut in to ask.

 _"There's a dry cleaners, a print shop, a boxing gym, and a florist's on one side,"_ Casey said. _"The other side has a realtor's office, a kitchen supply, and a tailor's. Not many businesses and none of them likely to attract tourists."_

"And none of them open at night," Don said, glancing at Leo.

"One of those places has to be the new Foot headquarters," Leo said. "It puts them right in the center of the target zone."

"So the two sitting in the alley are making sure no one's around to see a big truck dropping off a delivery," Raph said. "All we gotta do is wait to see which of those businesses takes that delivery and we've got them."

Don quickly pulled the van to the side of the road and stopped. His brothers stared at him curiously, but he didn't notice as he was busy punching commands into his wrist computer. When he was done, a holographic image of the building schematics came up for all of them to see.

"We're looking at building plans for that block, Casey," Don said. "That entire block was once owned by a manufacturing firm. There is an entrance to underground parking off of one of the three alleys between buildings. The parking area includes a loading dock."

 _"Want to bet the entrance is in the alley where our friends are waiting?"_ Casey asked.

Raph tapped the back of Leo's seat. "Want to bet at least one of those businesses is owned by the Shredder?"

"There's a problem," Don said, still studying the schematics. "The buildings are all joined by a series of underground tunnels. In order to secure the Foot, the task force will have to surround the entire block. There's still the chance that the Foot might have punched through a dividing wall into one of the buildings behind them."

 _"Meaning they could escape on 44th or 46th,"_ Casey said.

"Depending on how much foresight was used in preparing this hiding spot, the tunnels could go even farther," Leo said.

"Guess that means we have to pin down the top dogs before the cops show up," Raph said, looking a little too pleased.

"You're gonna get your wish, Raph," Mikey said.

Leo signaled to Don, who put the van into drive and pulled out onto the road again.

A half an hour later they were parked near the entrance to Pier 78. A few minutes earlier they had found the two Foot soldiers they were following and had eased back in order to avoid being spotted.

When the Foot soldiers slowed near a warehouse just off the pier, Don had stopped within view of the building. The turtles watched as the two men took up positions where they could watch the main roads nearest the pier.

"Guess the four ya' tagged are Foot lookouts, Donnie" Raph said.

"It appears that way," Don replied absent mindedly. He was on his computer again.

"What are ya' doing now?" Raph asked.

"I had a thought that if the Foot have moved into one of the businesses on 45th, then the electric usage has to have spiked," Don said. "I'm searching the power company records."

There was a deep rumble from somewhere behind them and the turtles slunk down from the van's front windows. Two dump trucks drove past them, heading for the warehouse where the pair of Foot soldiers were waiting.

"Got it," Don said, his eyes still glued to his computer readout. "There's been a huge jump in electric usage at the boxing gym and the print shop. They're side by side."

"Figures," Raph said, watching as the dump trucks backed up to the warehouse doors. "The gym's a good cover for a bunch of guys going in and out at all hours."

"It's a good place to train," Leo said. "They've probably had to sign up new recruits since so many of them were jailed after Krang's attempt to invade."

"Too bad they didn't get Shredder's second in command," Mikey said. "I don't know that woman, but I hate that woman."

They grew silent as they observed several Foot soldiers leap from the beds of the trucks. Using a small explosive charge, they blew out the lock on the warehouse doors and pulled them open so that the trucks could drive inside.

Raph's growl was low, but quite audible inside the van. "Do ya' know how aggravating it is to just sit here and watch them do that?"

"Everything they steal tonight will be returned," Leo said, trying to reassure him.

"I'm recording all of it," Don said. "There won't be any question that the Foot are responsible for tonight's theft."

The turtles waited in silence for another quarter of an hour without seeing any activity outside of the warehouse.

"How long does it take to steal food?" Mikey asked.

Casey's voice came through the speaker. _"Anything going on with you guys? We seem to be on standby here."_

"Same," Leo said. "The Foot have broken into a warehouse and we're . . . ." A low rumbling sound interrupted him. "Hold on."

As they watched, the dump trucks pulled out of the warehouse, one after the other. A tarp was now stretched across the beds of both vehicles, hiding whatever was inside.

Don and Leo crouched down so as not to be seen as the trucks drove past them, followed by the Foot soldiers who were mounted on motorcycles. Mikey watched the caravan through the back window.

"The Foot are all crammed into the front of the trucks now," Mikey informed his brothers. "I guess the back ends are full."

"Let's go," Raph said, slapping the back of Donatello's seat.

Waiting until the last truck was nearly out of sight, Don made a U-turn and followed after it without turning on the van's lights. Once he'd determined that the Foot soldiers he'd tagged with tracking devices were remaining with the trucks, he dropped back enough to be able to use his headlights.

"Don't want to be stopped by a patrol car," Don mumbled.

"That'd be just our luck," Raph said. "They'd ignore a couple of dump trucks tooling around late at night in favor of pulling over the van full of mutant turtles."

 _"You think being a cop is so easy, you try doing the job,"_ Casey said.

Mikey chuckled. "He can't, there aren't any uniforms big enough to fit him."

"It looks like we're headed your direction, Casey," Leo said, watching the monitor. "We have to hang back so they don't realize they're being followed. Let us know what happens when the trucks get there."

The drive from Pier 78 to where Casey and April waited didn't take long. The Foot avoided the roads around popular eating establishments, but even with the circuitous route, they arrived at their destination within a quarter of an hour.

 _"Guys, the trucks are here,"_ April said. _"They're pulling into the same alley that we saw the Foot go into."_

Don found a spot to park the van and quickly looked at the building schematics. "Which businesses are on either side of that alley, April?"

 _"The print shop and florist's,"_ April replied.

"The print shop has one of the basement loading docks," Don said. "That's where the trucks are going."

"Where's Casey?" Leo asked, suspicious that it was April reporting to them.

 _"I'm on the roof of realtor's office,"_ Casey said, answering for her _. "There's no one around here and no cameras in the parking lot next to the building. Makes up for the fact that there are plenty of them on the buildings across the street."_

"Rooftop access?" Leo asked.

 _"On top of the gym,"_ Casey told him. _"There are a few Foot goons up there too, and on top of the print shop."_

"We'll go in that way," Leo said. "As soon as we're inside, you call Chief Vincent and get the task force moving. We'll recon and try to avoid being seen until the police have a chance to get into position."

"The 50th Street subway line isn't far from here," Don said.

 _"I'll tell the Chief to send a couple of regular units over there in case any of the Foot make a run for it in that direction,"_ Casey said.

The turtles left the van and took to the rooftops. By monitoring the frequencies used in operating wireless security cameras, Donatello was able to locate each of the devices, making it easy to avoid them.

Squatting in the shadows, the turtles watched the Foot ninja who had been assigned to rooftop patrol. When they had spotted all of them, the brothers huddled around Leo.

"We've got three on top of the gym and two on the print shop roof," Leo said. "We can't have them sounding an early alarm, so it's stealth time. This will be tricky since we have to get past the first three to get to the others."

"Distraction?" Don asked.

"Only if it's something that won't alarm them," Leo said.

 _"How about I drive slowly past the buildings?"_ April asked. _"That should make them curious enough to at least watch me."_

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Raph said, looking at his older brother.

"Don't stop for anything," Leo said. "Maintain an even speed. Do you have a way to hide your face?"

 _"I'll pull up the hood on my jacket,"_ April said.

"Find a place to stop a few blocks away so you're outside of the area the task force will be cordoning off," Leo told her.

 _"I'm not sitting this one out,"_ Casey said.

"No you're not," Leo responded. "We need for you and April to get the police into position and feed them information."

"We gonna talk all night?" Raph demanded.

"Go now, April," Leo said into his mic.

Through their communication devices they could hear April start the truck.

"Watch the Foot," Leo ordered, glancing at each of his brothers. "When they move, we move. Raph and I will take the first three. Don, you and Mikey keep going to the print shop and deal with the other two."

Muscles coiled in readiness to pounce, the brothers waited, their eyes focused on the five Foot soldiers across the way. In a couple of minutes one of the men called out and all five of them dashed over to look down at the street.

As soon as the Foot moved, so did the turtles. On silent feet they sprang across the gap between buildings, crouching low and sticking to the shadows. Don and Mikey kept going when the other two split off, running fast since they had no idea how long April could hold the Foot's attention.

Raph and Leo reached their targets at the same time. One of the Foot ninja started to turn as Leo crept up on him, perhaps sensing the danger. He had no time to make a sound as Leo's fist struck him with a hard uppercut, knocking him back towards the edge of the roof. Leo snatched at his shirtfront and yanked the unconscious man to safety before he could fall.

It wasn't until Leo's blow struck that the other two straightened up, but they didn't even get the chance to turn around before Raph was on them. His large hands slapped onto the sides of each man's head, bashing them together. The collision of skulls was the loudest noise anyone had made.

There was less time for Mikey and Don to strike since their targets were farther away. The two Foot soldiers, alerted by movement on the adjacent rooftop, spun around just as the pair of turtles were bearing down on them.

Having distance weapons came in handy right at that moment. Don drew his bō all the way in a straight line behind him, and then thrust the tip of his weapon directly into the first Foot soldier's stomach. His target doubled over in pain, air whooshing from his lungs, and Don finished him with a snapping strike to his temple.

Mikey attacked at the exact same moment, his spinning nunchaku drawing his target's eyes. The split second of distraction was enough time for Mikey to swing his weapon against the side of the Foot soldier's head. Following all of the way through with the blow jerked the man's head to the side and he crumpled at Mikey's feet.

Quickly stripping the upper halves of the Foot soldiers' bodies bare, the brothers used the clothing to bind and gag their enemies. When the pair rejoined Raph and Leo on top of the gym, they saw the other three men had been trussed up as well.

Raph easily pried open the roof access hatch, lifting it slowly to keep the hinges from squeaking too loudly.

"Let me check," Don whispered. Attaching a cord to the mini-camera he kept in his tool belt, he lowered the device into the opening.

Spinning the camera slowly, he turned it in a complete circle. Through his goggles, he saw that most of the gym was on the ground level and that it had high ceilings. Only a small section contained a second floor, and the roof access led down to it.

As he surveyed the space, Don kept up a running description, his voice low. There were a pair of fighters in the boxing ring, both wearing Foot ninja gear. A few others stood around the ring, one of them calling out instructions.

Don's sudden gasp startled his brothers. "What is it?" Leo asked.

"Karai," Don hissed. "She just entered from a side door. Considering the square footage of the gym, she had to have come from the print shop."

"Any sign of Bebop and Rocksteady?" Raph asked.

"I don't see them, but they could be next door too," Don said. "There's no one on the second level just below us."

"Drop in, stay silent," Leo instructed.

When Don pulled his camera up, Leo jumped down to the floor below. He moved quickly to the side as first Raph, then Mikey leaped through the opening. Don was the last to enter, after letting Casey and April know that they were inside.

As the brothers crept towards the balcony that overlooked the gym, they heard a female voice cutting through the shouts and grunts of the fighters. Remaining low to the ground, the turtles peered through the decorative wire that ran between the thick balcony rails.

Karai stood off to one side, a computer tablet in her hands. Next to her was a Foot soldier, standing at attention with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Is this all that was seen?" Karai asked, looking up at her subordinate.

"Yes, Mistress Karai," the man said. "The truck did not stop at all."

"I do not like this," Karai said, handing the tablet to the man. "It is time to break down the equipment and move to the secondary location." With a nod of her head she indicated an area somewhere below the second floor and added, "Tell those two that dinner will be delayed."

"Yes, mistress," the man said, bowing as Karai left him and strode back through the connecting door.

"Depending on how fast they move, the task force might not get here on time," Don whispered.

"Okay, so how do we keep these goons from scattering like cockroaches before the cavalry arrives?" Raph asked.

"Simple," Leo said, rising to his full height. "Give them what they want most. Us."

TBC….


	19. Chapter 19

Castoff  
part 19

After making his announcement, Leonardo placed two fingers into his mouth and whistled shrilly.

Movement on the floor below them came to a sudden halt. Almost as one, the Foot clan who were gathered there looked up at the balcony.

"Are you sure about this, Leo?" Don asked, his eyes wide.

In answer, Leo leaped over the railing to the floor below.

"Guess he's sure," Mikey said, following him.

Raph and Don landed next to their brothers and all four stared in defiance at their enemies.

"This a party?" Mikey asked. "Where are our invites?"

April's voice sounded in Don's ear. _"What are you guys doing?"_

"Employing a delaying tactic," Don answered. "Tell the task force to drive faster."

"It's the turtles!" one of the men near the boxing ring shouted.

"Kinda stating the obvious there," Raph said, cracking his knuckles. "Which of ya' guys want to give up and which of ya' want a beat down first?"

The Foot ninja soldiers on either side of the boxing ring sprinted towards the nearest walls, where various weapons were displayed. One of the men snatched a pair of yari spears off the wall and tossed them to the fighters in the ring.

"Guess that answers your question," Mikey said, his nunchucks out and whirling.

A pair of ninja split off from the pack to head for the door that Karai had gone through.

"Get the door, Donnie!" Leo ordered. "Don't let them warn Karai."

"On it!" Don dashed for the door, pulling his bō as he ran.

When Leo turned towards Raph, he saw that his impulsive brother was already barreling towards the boxing ring.

"Mikey, right flank. I'll take the left," Leo said, darting to the left side of the ring.

Raph leaped at the stairs leading up to the ring, one foot bounding off a step as he flung his body upwards. Catching the top rope in one hand, he catapulted feet first into the ring.

Seeing Raph coming at them, the first soldier spun around to jab at the giant flying figure. Raph kicked the spear out of his hands and then landed directly in front of the man. Before his opponent could lift his fists, Raph punched him squarely in the mouth.

The crunch of broken teeth and a busted jaw was loud, despite the shouting going on around them. As the man sank silently to the mat, Raph booted him hard in the stomach, sending the man sliding out of the ring. Then Raph turned to face the other fighter.

Holding the yari tightly, the second man stabbed at Raph and then pulled his spear back quickly when the turtle dodged his weapon. The pair circled each other, the Foot soldier cautious and his eyes unblinking as he looked for an opening. Raph's grin was cocky to the point of taunting.

There was a clang of steel against steel to one side of them as Leo engaged with a pair of katana wielding Foot ninjas. Both of Leo's swords were in his hands as he blocked strikes from two opposite directions.

A hard blow against one opponent's sword sent the man reeling backwards. His partner hesitated for a split second before he lifted his sword high and with a shout, charged at Leo.

Lifting one foot, Leo kicked the man directly in his face, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Spinning to confront the first man, Leo caught his opponent's sword on the edge of his own, and then slammed the pommel of his other katana into the ninja's forehead.

As the ninja sank to the floor, others raced at the turtle in blue. On the other side of the ring, Mikey's twirling nunchucks cut a path through a pair of opponents, the blows from his weapon rocking their heads violently before they dropped.

Sensing someone behind him, Mikey twisted just in time to jerk away from the tip of a spear aimed at his neck. Flinging the chain of his nunchuck over the head of the spear, Mikey yanked its wielder towards him and smashed a fist into the man's face.

"This is fun!" Mikey called out, delivering a front snap kick to a ninja who rushed at him. "Weren't there more of these guys?"

"They're probably next door," Don said, ducking a sword and sweeping the feet out from under his would be assailant. Putting him out of commission with a blow to the head, he pulled his bō back and drove it into the stomach of a ninja reaching for the door connecting the gym to the print shop.

The man in the ring with Raph suddenly lifted his spear and threw it at the turtle. As Raph reached up to bat it aside, the man shouted and charged, his fists swinging. Raph took the first blow on his shoulder, grinning when the man grimaced in pain at hitting such a solid object.

His second target was the large turtle's face, but Raph caught his fist in one hand and squeezed, hard. The ninja grabbed at his hand, his knees starting to buckle.

"Bad idea," Raph said, shaking his head.

The man's eyes widened, words of protest rising to his lips. Before he could utter more than a pleading 'no', Raph delivered an uppercut that was hard enough to lift the man off his feet. Flying back against the ropes, the Foot ninja flipped over the top rope and out of the ring. Unconscious, he hit the floor with a solid thud.

Moving to the side of the ring, Raph leaned his elbows against the rope and watched as a ninja that Leo had just hit went swirling around on his heels before keeling over. Two more ninjas hurtled towards Leo, one wielding a sword, the other a staff.

"Need some help?" Raph asked.

Leo's sword clanged against the other man's. With his superior strength, Leo pushed the man back and then swiftly turned his carapace as the staff came down at his head. The staff struck the hard shell, the vibrations of the blow traveling up along the staff.

Hands suddenly numb, the man dropped the weapon and Leo kicked him in the chest hard enough to drive his entire body against the wall. As he sank into a crumpled heap, Leo turned back to the sword wielder.

"Nope," Leo answered.

"Well, would you lookee here."

At the sound off a familiar voice, Raph straightened and looked back towards the area just under the balcony. Both Bebop and Rocksteady stood there, grinning with obvious delight.

"Looks like turtle take-out, Beebs," Rocksteady said.

Bebop smashed a fist into one hand. "I was hoping we'd get something new for dinner."

"Time for round two," Rocksteady said.

"Bring it on," Raph told them, standing his ground.

The pair of mutants stampeded towards the ring as Raph braced himself. Catching Bebop's hand, Rocksteady flung him at the turtle. Raph fell back as Bebop slammed into him, rolling over on his carapace and then throwing the warthog against the ropes behind them.

Raph leaped to his feet as Rocksteady jumped into the ring. With a roar, the rhino lunged at Raph, grabbing him around his middle and lifting him before slamming him into the canvas.

"Hang on, Raph!" Leo yelled, trading sword strikes with his opponent.

A group of Foot soldiers had moved to surround Mikey, but one of them broke off to race for the door into the print shop when he saw that none of the others had made it through.

As he ran at Donatello, he swung the kama he was holding, but the tall turtle brought his bō down on the man's arm. The soldier dropped the weapon and then Don used his bō like a bat, striking the man across his chest and knocking the air out of him.

Clutching at his chest, the soldier dropped to his knees. Just before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out, the man pointed at something near the ceiling directly over Don's shoulder.

Turning to look, Don spotted a block of what seemed to be modeling clay with a blasting cap and wires protruding from one end.

"Leo!" Don shouted, catching his brother's attention as he was about to leap into the ring to aid Raphael.

"A little busy, Donnie!" Leo called out.

"It's C4! The place is wired to blow!" Don yelled.

Doing a double take, Leo ran to Don's side and looked up at the object his brother was indicating.

"Can you disarm it?" Leo asked.

"I can pull the blasting cap," Don said. "But the wires run into the print shop. I'll have to go in there to disarm any other explosives. They've probably got C4 all over the place."

"Take Mikey with you," Leo ordered. "Raph and I will deal with Bebop and Rocksteady."

"Here," Don said, handing the two hypodermics containing the purple mutagen to his brother. "Make sure you stick the needles into the veins on their necks so it gets into their bloodstreams. If you hit muscle, the mutagen will be wasted."

"Got it," Leo said, sticking the hypos into his belt. He heard Bebop cackling with amusement and looked back to see Raph land face down on the boxing ring canvas. "I'd better tag in."

He ran towards the ring, watching as Raph rolled aside to avoid being slammed by Rocksteady. Jumping to his feet, Raph grabbed onto Rocksteady's horn, pulling his head as he smashed an elbow into the side of the rhino's face.

Rocksteady staggered back a couple of steps, his eyes crossed. As he shook his head to clear his vision, Bebop yelled, "I got him, buddy!"

Raph turned when he heard the warthog racing at him. Before Bebop reached him, Leo came soaring over the top rope, spinning in mid-air to hit the warthog's back and drive him away from his brother.

Bebop stumbled forward, regaining his balance as he reached Rocksteady's side. The pair looked over at the pair of turtles, who were standing next to each other facing them.

"Ya' ready, Rock? This is gonna be good," Bebop said.

"Let's peel 'em out of those shells, Beebs," Rocksteady said.

Leo leaned close to Raph, keeping his voice down, "We can't beat them with brute strength. We have to use our training and teamwork. I've got the hypos. Focus on getting them down long enough for me to hit a vein."

"Sounds like a plan," Raph said, bumping his fist against Leo's.

While the four fighters in the ring battled for the upper hand, Don turned his attention to the block of C4. Despite his height, the blasting cap was just out of reach.

"Mikey, I need you!" Don called out.

Knocking out the last Foot ninja, Mikey ran to Don. "What's up, bro'?"

"Lift me up there," Don said, pointing at the C4.

Mikey bent down so that Don could climb onto his shoulders. Once he was near the C4, Don carefully extracted the blasting cap from the explosive compound. Now that he was close to it, Don traced the wires, noting that some went up to the balcony while others ran through a hole that had been drilled into the wall.

The connecting door suddenly opened and a Foot soldier stepped through, freezing for a moment when he saw his brethren stretched out on the floor. With a shout clearly meant to alert others in the Foot clan, he ran at Mikey.

When he neared the young turtle, the man lifted a truncheon, plainly intent on bludgeoning Mikey with it. Before he could bring it down, Mikey mule kicked the man into the wall.

"Donnie . . . ." Mikey said.

His brother leaped down to look at him. "We have to get next door," Don said. "I need to find the detonation device and disarm it before they blow up all of the buildings on the block."

" _Don, what's going on?"_ April asked. _"What are you doing?"_

"Stalling," Don said into his mouthpiece as two more Foot soldiers came in from the print shop. "How long before the task force arrives?"

" _About three minutes,"_ April said. _"What can I do?"_

Mikey engaged the pair of Foot while Don approached the open door. "Tell the Chief to surround the whole block but let her know there's C4 all over the place. I'm going to try and disarm the detonator. There are a lot of unconscious men in here who'll need to be dragged out of the building."

" _Donnie, be careful,"_ April said, sounding worried.

"Doing my best," Don said. "You and Casey stay back."

" _I don't know where . . . ."_ April began.

Don didn't hear the rest of the sentence because a small, black missile went sailing past his face to smack into the head of the ninja who had been coming up behind him.

"Ha! I thought I heard fighting!" Casey called out from the street entrance. He was wearing his hockey mask and carrying his stick.

"Casey, the place is rigged to explode!" Leo shouted, ducking as Bebop swung a fist at him. "You need to get out!"

"Fat chance!" Casey said as Foot ninja began to stream into the gym from the print shop. He ran to join Don and Mikey, who were pummeling the ninja as quickly as they could.

"Push them back," Don said. "We have to get into the next building."

"What about Bebop and Rocksteady?" Casey asked, sweeping his hockey stick up and clouting an oncoming ninja.

"Leo and Raph are taking care of them," Don said. "I'll find the detonator, you and Mikey go after Stockman and Karai."

Spinning his bō, Don charged the doorway, striking any Foot soldier who didn't have the sense to get out of his way. The handful of them who did ran straight into Mikey and Casey, who gave them no quarter.

Casey was the last to go through the doorway into the print shop. He could hear that Don and Mikey were meeting resistance but paused in following them to glance back at the boxing ring. Leo and Raph were engaged in a fight that would have drawn crowds if it was being shown live on pay-per-view.

As much as he would have loved to stay and help capture Bebop and Rocksteady, Casey realized that his priority lay in making certain the explosives were deactivated. With a shake of his head, he lifted his hockey stick and raced into battle alongside the turtles.

"Watch those spinning feet, Beebs!" Rocksteady called to his partner.

The heel of Leo's foot struck Bebop in the chin, knocking him to the ground. He rolled over and grabbed Leo's ankle as the turtle landed, yanking hard enough to send him sprawling.

Raph lowered his shoulder and drove it between Rocksteady's shoulder blades, throwing the rhino into the ropes. Turning to check on Leo, he didn't see Rocksteady bounce off the ropes. The rhino was on his back in a second, circling Raph's throat with an arm and forcing him to the canvas.

Rocksteady began pounding the back of Raph's head with his fist. Reaching up, Raph tried to get a hold on Rocksteady's horn, but the rhino stayed just out of reach. Raph wrapped an arm around Rocksteady's leg and yanked upwards.

As Rocksteady fell to the side, he maintained his grip on Raph's neck. On his back with Raph on top of him, Rocksteady started to squeeze. Grabbing the arm that was around his neck, Raph pulled hard and then with his free hand, began punching the side of Rocksteady's head.

"Don't let him go, Rock!" Bebop sang out, ducking under Leo's spin kick.

Coming up fast, Bebop caught hold of the straps crisscrossing Leo's chest. Leo slammed both hands against Bebop's ears, breaking his signature glasses and making the warthog pull his head back.

"You're gonna pay for that, turtle," Bebop said without relinquishing his grip. "That was my favorite pair of glasses."

"Tear him a new one, Beebs! Karai will buy you a hundred new glasses!" Rocksteady shouted as he maintained pressure on Raph's neck.

"Gonna use my tusks and put out those pretty blue eyes," Bebop said, grinning at the turtle who strained against his hold.

Pulling his legs up between them, Leo planted his feet against Bebop's chest and shoved off, forcing the warthog's hands loose. Bebop stumbled back while Leo flipped in mid-air, coming down nimbly on his feet.

Raphael managed to land a punch to Rocksteady's eye, making the rhino cry out and reach up to his face. His grip loosened and Raph wrenched his arm off his neck, pushing the rhino aside and then leaping to his feet.

Rocksteady rushed him and the pair began to trade blows. As Bebop stomped towards Leo, the turtle judged the distance between them and the other pair of combatants, leaping skyward to perform a spiraling kick to the side of Bebop's head. The force of the blow toppled the warthog, who crashed into his rhino buddy.

As the pair struggled to untangle themselves, Leo bounded over to Raph's side. "We have to bring this to an end. Don might need our help."

"Working on it, Leo," Raph said.

"They want to play games, Rock," Bebop said as the rhino pulled him up from the canvas.

Rocksteady snorted, pawing at the ground with one foot. "I've got a game for them," he said, charging at Raph.

The pair slammed together, both gripping the other's shoulders. For a moment they were at an impasse, each pushing and pulling while they tried to get the upper hand.

Bebop surprised Leo by running backwards, away from him. As Leo came forward, Bebop hit the ropes with his back, using them as a springboard. He flew at Leo, catching him across the chest with a meaty arm and flinging the turtle to the canvas.

On his shell, Leo swung a punch at Bebop, who seized his wrist and began twisting his hand. Grimacing in pain, Leo kicked up with one leg and smashed his foot against the warthog's snout.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Bebop cried out, bringing both hands up to his snout, which was bleeding profusely.

"Beebs!" Rocksteady shouted.

Raph hooked his foot behind Rocksteady's leg and knocked it out from under him while simultaneously hip throwing the rhino. Rocksteady did a complete flip before hitting the canvas.

He swiftly rolled back to his feet and hurtled towards Raph. At the last second, Raph sidestepped and landed a spinning back kick to Rocksteady's head.

Rocksteady lurched forward unsteadily, trying to stop his momentum. Raph and Leo exchanged glances, a silent message passing between them. With a nod, the pair attacked, using their body weight to push the other mutants into each other.

Bebop and Rocksteady banged together, their skulls connecting with a resounding crash. Both fell to the canvas, moaning loudly.

"That hurt!" Rocksteady yelled.

Leonardo's hand dipped into his belt and in a flash he tossed one of the hypodermics to Raphael. Both of the turtles pounced, plunging the needles into Bebop and Rocksteady's necks before the pair could recover their senses.

Jumping away, the turtles backpedaled to the ropes, watching as the other mutant pair yanked the hypos out of their skin. Both slowly staggered to their feet, clutching at their necks.

"I remember this sting," Bebop said as Rocksteady fell to his hands and knees.

"This felt better the last time!" Rocksteady roared.

Suddenly the front door smashed open and police officers in riot gear came streaming into the building. Behind them was Chief Vincent, wearing a bullet proof vest. Her quick eyes surveyed the scene and then she ran to the turtles, who leaped over the ropes to meet her.

"These buildings are wired to blow," Leo said.

"O'Neil told us," Chief Vincent said. "Most of the task force is outside catching stragglers. We're only here to evacuate."

Her officers were dragging Foot soldiers out of the building. Groans of pain came from the two mutants in the ring and brought the trios attention back to them.

Their bodies had begun to shrink, the horns disappearing from Bebop's snout first and then the largest one vanished from Rocksteady's face. As their skulls began to reform into their original human shapes, their ears shrank and Rocksteady's head and facial hair reappeared.

Panting hard, Bebop spun around in a circle, flinging his arms out as they diminished in size. Rocksteady shook his head as his elongated face dwindled until his mouth and nose were once more normal.

Chief Vincent motioned to two of her men, who stepped forward and aimed pistols at the pair in the ring. Looking at the turtles, she said, "Tranquilizers."

Upon her signal, the police officers fired, hitting Bebop and Rocksteady with darts. Bebop fell to his knees and Rocksteady keeled over on his side. Their eyes began to glaze over as the tranquilizers took hold.

Looking over at Bebop, Rocksteady said, "My man."

Just before he tipped over, Bebop replied, "My man."

Next door, Don, Mikey, and Casey had been engaged in their own battle. The print shop was full of machinery which the Foot ninja utilized as hiding places. Making their way through the maze became a running battle.

Using his wrist-mounted computer, Don followed the holographic image it displayed which contained a readout of neutronium levels. It was leading them to the rear of the print shop.

" _Don, the task force has arrived,"_ April said. _"They are bringing the Foot out of the building and grabbing any who try to escape. What's happening on your end?"_

The tall turtle dodged the sweep of a sword, his eyes glued to his readout. Next to him, Mikey brought his nunchuck down on the attacker's hand and then the back of his skull.

"We're in the print shop," Don said. "The neutronium is still here and I haven't found the detonation device. I'm seeing blocks of C4 everywhere."

" _Then get out,"_ April urged.

"I can't," Don said. "An explosion of this magnitude will rupture gas lines. More buildings than just the ones on this block are at risk. You need to get away from here, April. Tell Chief Vincent and the task force to pull back; way back."

" _I'll warn them,"_ April assured him. _"Please don't risk it, Donnie. You guys need to get away from there."_

Nearing the end of the line of machines, Don saw that a large space had been cleared at the back of the building. Ahead of him, Foot soldiers scurried in and out of a wide doorway, each carrying boxes to the loading dock.

"Tell Chief Vincent that the trucks are going to be coming out of that alley next to the print shop," Don said. "She needs to stop them. And April, could you do one more thing for me?"

" _Sure Donnie, anything,"_ April said.

"If we don't make it out of here, please help Splinter raise Shilo," Don said. "He'll need family."

" _Don't talk like that,"_ April scolded.

"Please, April," Don pleaded. "Just promise me that."

" _Of course I promise,"_ April said. _"But you'll get home to your baby. I know you will."_

With that assurance, Don focused his attention on the area nearest the loading dock entryway. He could see that Shredder's forces had managed to almost completely finish building a second Arc Capacitor.

Baxter Stockman sat in front of a computer, frantically typing in commands and issuing packing instructions to the men scuttling around him. In a far corner, away from the bedlam, stood Karai. On a packing crate in front of her was the primary detonation device, wires running from it up along the walls.

"You two get Stockman and destroy that machine," Don said, keeping his voice low. "I'll take care of the detonator."

"Nothing I like more than a good fight," Casey said.

He and Mikey split off from Don, who deactivated his hologram and gripped his bō tightly as he ran towards Karai. Though he made no sound to warn her, she seemed to sense his approach, turning suddenly and whipping out her tanto.

"Turtles," Karai hissed with disdain.

She was fast; faster than any of the soldiers who had trained under her or Shredder. As Don blocked her attack, matching her move for move, he saw from the corner of his eye that a countdown had begun on the detonation device.

"I will destroy you creatures," Karai said, slashing at Donatello's middle.

He leapt back, using his height and reach to stay out of her way. Karai tried to close the distance, but Don's spinning bō blocked each of her strikes.

Off to their side, several Foot soldiers snatched up assault rifles and began to fire at Mikey and Casey. Turning his back to them, Mikey covered Casey, who darted behind a packing crate.

A ricocheting bullet slashed Karai's cheek and pulled her attention off of Donatello. "Stop shooting you fools!" she shouted.

The distraction gave Don an opening and he jabbed the end of his bō into her stomach. Karai grunted in pain, grabbing at her stomach and staggering backwards. She lifted her eyes to glare at him, but before she could bring the tanto up, Don smacked the side of Karai's head.

A low moan escaped her lips as Karai sank to the floor. Don immediately sheathed his weapon, stepping over the prone woman on his way to the detonation device.

Seeing that their leader was down, the Foot soldiers who were still in the building began to flee, with Mikey giving chase. A rumble of truck engines sounded from the loading dock and Mikey rushed back inside the print shop.

"They're taking off!" Mikey yelled.

"Let them go," Don said without looking back. His fingers were flying over the keyboard. "We've got what we came for. Find any C4 you can, Mikey, and pull the blasting caps out. Maybe we can mitigate the power of the explosions in case I can't shut off this timer."

"It's all you, Donnie," Mikey called out with encouragement. "You can do it."

Casey grabbed Stockman by his shirt collar, pulling the man out of his chair. "How do we shut that thing off?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Stockman said. When Casey drew back a fist as though to hit him, Stockman blurted, "If I knew I'd tell you! Do you think I want to be blown up?"

"Take him out of here, Casey," Don said. "Pull Karai out too."

Looking around, Casey couldn't find the woman. "Where is she?"

Don took a second to glance back to where she had lain. She was no longer there.

"Worry about her later," Don said, his focus back on the timer.

Dragging Stockman along with him, Casey went back into the boxing gym. He was in time to see the police pulling Bebop and Rocksteady out of the ring. The pair were mostly human again, though Rocksteady still had the hard lump from his horn still attached to his forehead and Bebop had retained his tail.

Leo and Raph ran to Casey, who shoved Stockman towards a waiting officer. "Don and Mikey?" Leo asked.

With a tip of his head, Casey indicated the print shop. "Don's trying to shut off the timer on a bomb," he said. "Mikey's pulling wires out of C4."

"Go with them," Leo said, flipping his hand towards the task force who were exiting the building.

"I can help," Casey insisted.

"You can be the biggest help by making certain the task force moves away from here," Leo said. "Find April and get her out of the blast zone. She won't leave unless you make her go."

The thought of April getting hurt turned Casey's feet towards the exit. "She won't leave until she knows you guys are safe," he told them on his way out.

Chief Vincent stood at the exit and called out, "Leonardo, Raphael, come out with me!"

"We're going to help our brothers," Leo said. "Clear the area."

Seeing there was no point arguing with him, Chief Vincent left the building. Leo turned to Raph and said, "You take the balcony while I check the lower level. If you see a block of C4, pull the blasting caps out of it."

"Gotcha," Raph said, running to the nearest wall and springing off of it up to the balcony.

Leo found three more blocks of the explosive, one tucked far back in an area beneath the balcony. On the upper level Raph located a block against the back wall and one on the ceiling just beneath the roofs air conditioning unit.

Raph leaned over the balcony as Leo came back out into the gym area. "What next?" he asked his brother.

"We find out how much time we have left," Leo said, starting for the print shop.

He hadn't taken more than two steps when an explosion rocked the floor under his feet.

TBC…..


	20. Chapter 20

Castoff  
part 20

The blast concussion shook the entire building. Part of the wall between the print shop and the gym exploded, showering the turtles with bricks and mortar.

A shout from Raphael brought Leonardo's eyes upwards. The balcony railing ripped loose from the wall and one of the support beams disintegrated, causing the front section of the top level to collapse.

Raph fell when the floor dropped from under him and he slid down to the ground below. He landed amidst the debris, a section of the metal railing coming down on top of him. Before he could push the heavy railing off of his carapace, furniture from the upper level began to rain down on him as well.

Racing nimbly over the wreckage, Leo ran to Raph's side, catching a recliner that was about to land on his brother's head. Tossing it aside, Leo dug at the bricks around Raph as the larger turtle shoved the metal railing off of himself and finally stood up.

"What the hell was that?" Raph demanded. "Why ain't the whole building sitting on our heads?"

Leo was already moving again, racing for the smoking hole that had once been the door between the two buildings.

"Donnie! Mikey!" Leo shouted, kicking bricks out of the way.

Raph came up next to him to force a path through the wreckage of the doorway. As they entered the print shop, they saw that the machinery nearest the shared wall had been crushed or thrown against other machines. Most of the print shop was untouched, though a fine mist of dust was starting to settle on everything.

"Mikey!" "Donnie!" the two brothers called out as they scanned the rubble for some sign of their siblings.

The sound of coughing to their right pulled them in that direction. A large copier had overturned, the explosion pushing it up against a heavy metal table. Both were covered in bricks.

 _"Guys, are you okay? Donnie?"_ April asked through their communication devices.

 _"Leo, Raph, what the hell happened?"_ Casey demanded at almost the exact same time.

"Just a small explosion, nothing to worry about," Leo replied in a steady voice. "Going to check it out. Don't let anyone back in here."

He quickly muted his microphone and signaled Raph to do so as well. There was no point in worrying their human friends.

"Mikey, you under there?" Raph asked, digging at a pile of bricks near the table.

When the bricks started to move from the other side, Raph caught hold of the copy machine and yanked it out of the way. Kneeling beneath the table was Mikey, covered in small cuts and holding his mask over his nose and mouth.

Leo leaned down and caught Mikey's outstretched hand, pulling his brother out from under the table.

"I guess I missed one," Mikey said, looking sheepish. He coughed again and then turned to spit some of the dust out of his throat.

"Are you okay? Where's Donnie?" Leo asked.

Mikey pointed rather than trying to speak. In a flash, Leo and Raph were running towards the back of the print shop. A second later Mikey was moving too.

The area where Stockman's equipment had been was crushed beneath debris. Broken sections of the second Arc Capacitor stuck up from beneath the rubble. The Foot soldiers who had been knocked out during the earlier fight were still on the ground, some of them pinned by machines or other wreckage.

In the corner where Don had been was a collapsed support beam and several large slabs of concrete. Donatello was nowhere to be seen.

"He was here," Mikey said, darting past his brothers to begin dragging away the fallen concrete. "Right here. I was supposed to pull wires out of the clay looking stuff. He was turning off the timer."

"Don! Donnie, can you hear me?" Leo called out as he and Raph joined Mikey in trying to clear a path to where their brother had been.

There was an answering groan from somewhere beneath the concrete.

"He's over here!" Raph sang out. He grabbed hold of the edges of a particularly large concrete slab and heaved it aside.

Underneath it was Donatello. It was clear he'd used his bō to catch and brace the slab so that it didn't crush him.

Despite his quick thinking, he'd still been injured. There was a long, ugly gash running nearly the full length of his right tricep and a piece of metal protruding from the calf on his right leg.

Raph hauled him to his feet. With assistance from all three of his brothers, Don traversed the pile of debris, stopping once they were in an uncluttered area.

"Can you get the first aid supplies from my pack?" Don asked, looking at Leo while leaning heavily against Raphael.

"What the hell happened?" Raph asked.

"I cracked the code on the detonator and stopped the countdown," Don answered.

Gesturing towards the wreckage, Raph snapped, "That doesn't look like ya' stopped it."

Mikey squatted next to Don and accepted the roll of bandaging that Leo handed him. "I'm taking this thing out of your leg, Donnie."

It was all the warning he gave as he yanked the piece of metal out of Don's calf. There was a small spray of blood and then Mikey was putting pressure on the wound. While he was doing that, Leo was working on binding the gash on Don's arm.

"I didn't set off the explosion," Don said, wincing slightly as his brothers worked on his injuries. "Karai did. She disappeared during the chaos of the fight. I thought she was making a run for it and I had a detonator to disable. I was just turning to let Mikey know I'd done it when she came in from the loading dock."

"Manual detonator," Leo guessed.

"Right," Don said. "We'd managed to break the contacts that would have set off a sequence of explosions, but we missed one of the direct connections. That's what went off."

"So how did she expect to get away?" Mikey asked as he stood up.

His brothers looked at him with surprise. Then Raph said, "He's right. There's no way she'd blow herself up."

"The task force is outside," Leo said. "She can't get past them. Start looking. There must be a hiding spot in here somewhere. A place that she could escape from even if the building imploded."

Three of the turtles separated to begin the search but Don remained where he was. Tapping his wrist mounted computer, he brought up a three-dimensional display of the blue-prints of the building.

"All of the C4 was placed for maximum destruction," Don murmured to himself. Using his finger he drew lines from each of the blocks of explosive. "The support beams and load bearing walls . . . ."

"What are you doing, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Don spun around, making Leo flinch back from the brightness of his holographic display. "All of the building supports were targeted except for the one over there."

He pointed towards the loading dock. Just as he said that, a hatch near the bottom of the wall next to the dock entryway burst open and Karai jumped out. In a flash she was running for the entry, swiftly disappearing into the loading dock.

Leo streaked after her. As he ran onto the dock, he spotted Karai pulling open a door nearest the alley's entrance ramp.

There were stairs behind the door and she ran up them with barely a glance at her pursuer. Leo wasted no time in giving chase. He could hear his brothers behind him as he began bounding up the stairs which he surmised led onto the roof.

He was nearly to the top when he heard the distinct whirling sounds of a helicopter. Leo could see Karai ahead of him, putting her shoulder to the roof access door as she worked the door lever.

Leo lunged at her legs, but Karai managed to pop open the door and dive through the opening. Karai paused in her flight long enough to slam the door shut and break off the lever with a well-placed kick.

It didn't slow Leo much, but it added a few precious seconds to her escape as he was forced to break down the door. As he sprang onto the roof, Leo saw the helicopter coming down until its landings skids hovered just above the rooftop.

Karai was agile and fast as she raced towards the helicopter. Leo put on a burst of speed as he ran after her, hoping to reach Karai before she made it to safety. Sensing that he was close, Karai signaled for the pilot to lift off.

As the helicopter once more rose into the air, Karai leaped upwards, catching hold of one of the landing skids. Pulling herself up, she grasped the door frame and turned to look down at the turtle in blue.

There was a smile on Karai's face as she placed a palm to her lips and then threw Leo a kiss. His brothers caught up to him, all four of them watching the helicopter move away from the building. Before it disappeared from sight, Karai took a device from her belt and waved it at them.

"That's a hand held version of the teleportation device," Don said. "She must have gotten Stockman to build it for her."

"Won't do her much good without the Arc Capacitor," Leo said.

"Or Stockman," Raph added with a laugh. "I got a feeling we ain't seen the last of her."

As the brothers walked to the roof's edge, Mikey tapped Raph's arm to get his attention and then tipped his head in Leo's direction. In a teasing tone, he asked, "What was your first clue, that kiss she threw at Leo?"

"Guess he made an impression on her," Raph said, eyes twinkling with humor.

"Very funny guys," Leo said. "She was taunting us, daring us to find her, and you know it."

"Forget her for now. Think we should head down there and check in?" Raph asked, pointing at Chief Vincent, who was near the command post truck.

"No," Leo said, looking farther down the street. "There are too many eyes."

His brothers followed his gaze and saw that a news van from April's station had arrived on the scene. April was in front of a camera, microphone in hand as she made a live report on the capture of the Foot clan and their cronies.

"Nice scoop for April," Mikey said.

Leo clapped Don on the shoulder. "We should head home and get you sewed up. Casey and April will come by later to fill us in." Turning his mic on again, he said, "Casey, there are Foot soldiers needing first aid in the print shop. Karai got away. Let the task force know to allow our van through the cordon. We're going back to the lair."

 _"Will do,"_ Casey said. _"Catch you guys back there later."_

The turtles made their way to the van and drove back to the lair. After parking it in its assigned space, they clambered out to head inside. Partway through the tunnel the distinct wails of a crying baby reached them.

In spite of his wounded leg, Don began moving fast, reaching the stairs before his brothers. He quickly located Shilo who was in the kitchen with Vern. The man was pacing and rocking the baby turtle, who appeared quite inconsolable.

Upon seeing Donatello, Vern gave a sigh of relief. "He was fine until a little while ago," he said. He nodded towards a bottle that sat on the table. "He's not hungry, his diaper's clean, and he doesn't need to be burped. He just won't settle down."

"Here, give him to me," Don said, reaching for his child.

As soon as Don was cradling him, Shilo's cries stopped. He hiccoughed a couple of times, his bottom lip quivering as he stared up at Don, and then calmed as the tall turtle began gently bouncing him.

"What happened to you guys?" Vern asked.

"Part of a building fell on us," Raph said. "Nothing we couldn't handle. Speaking of, how about ya' hand me that baby so Leo can patch ya' up, Donnie."

Shilo's eyes had closed and with some reluctance Don handed him off to his brother. Leo pulled a chair away from the table and Don sat down, propping his leg up on a second chair.

Vern made a face when he saw the blood on Don's pant leg. "Where are Casey and April?"

"Still with the task force," Raph said. "April called for a news van and she's reporting on the takedown of the Foot along with Bebop and Rocksteady. They scooped up Stockman too, but your pal Karai got away."

"Maybe I should have come along. I got her the last time," Vern said.

Raph grinned. "Sure ya' did."

"You'll have to lose the pants, Don," Leo said after laying medical supplies out on one of the tables.

"That's my cue to go home," Vern said. "I'll take Casey's car to him and grab a taxi. Call if you need me for anything."

"Thanks for watching Shilo," Don called out as Vern walked away.

"My pleasure," Vern said before disappearing into the tunnels.

It didn't take long to get Don patched up. The healing properties of his blood was already working, and the gash on Don's arm only required a few stitches.

Mikey took his pants to clean off the blood and put a patch on the spot that had been torn. Once Leo was finished with him, Don took a seat on the couch and insisted on holding Shilo. Raph switched on the television and the brothers watched the early morning newscast which featured April's report on the capture of wanted criminals.

All four of the turtles were tired but too comfortable to move. Don had allowed Leo to take a sleeping Shilo and place him into his playpen.

They were all half dozing when Mikey suddenly said, "I think Shilo knew you got hurt."

Don blinked a few times before focusing on his brother. "What?"

"Vern said he woke up a little while before we got home," Mikey said. "That's about when the building exploded. Shilo knew."

"Not possible, Mikey," Don said.

"How do you know? Are there any other mutated human babies around that we could use as an example?" Mikey asked.

"Hate to say it, but he's got a point," Raph said. "Shilo's got your blood. Ain't no telling what kind of connection between ya' came with that."

Leo stood up and stretched. "On that note, maybe we should all follow Shilo's example and try to get some sleep."

He reached into the playpen and picked up the baby turtle, carrying him to their shared bedroom and carefully placing him in his crib. Shilo grunted in his sleep, wriggling a little before turning onto his stomach, but he didn't wake up.

Don stood next to Leo, watching Shilo for a few minutes while Raph and Mikey crawled into their bunkbeds. "His motor skills are improving."

"It won't be long before he's wielding a katana like a champ," Leo said with a grin.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a computer and lab equipment," Don quipped, smiling at his brother.

"We'll let him decide," Leo said. "He's destined to be a very smart turtle, just like his 'mom'."

Don groaned. "Not you too."

Leo set a hand on his shoulder. "Might as well own it, Donnie."

Leaning into the crib, Donatello gave the baby turtle a kiss and then he and Leo turned in for some much needed rest.

After only a few hours Don woke, his active mind already dancing with thoughts and theories as he climbed out of his bed. His brothers were still asleep, but Shilo was not in his crib. When Don glanced across the lair, he saw Master Splinter seated on the couch with Shilo, giving him a bottle.

His father looked up as Don approached. "I did not wish to wake you as I know the four of you had a late night. According to the news, you captured the two miscreants who were mutated by the Shredder."

"We got Stockman and most of the Foot soldiers too," Don said, dropping into a chair. "There was enough of the purple mutagen to reverse the mutation, so the Warthog and Rhino are gone."

"That is how it should be," Master Splinter said. "What is next for you?"

Don frowned. "What do you mean, Dad?"

"You have a child who will someday ask questions about his antecedents," Master Splinter said. "Will you tell him that his mother was murdered and remains unavenged?"

"No, never," Don said. "I plan to tell Shilo everything when he is old enough to understand. We've been working with Casey to find a way to bring Guerra to justice, but he covers his tracks well."

Shilo grunted and turned his head aside, a clear indication that he was finished eating. Don picked up the small towel that was on the couch next to his father and draped it over his shoulder before taking Shilo from Master Splinter. Holding the baby in the crook of one arm, he braced Shilo against his shoulder and gave his tiny shell a firm pat.

Master Splinter smiled when Shilo burped and then burped again, rather loudly. "He sounds exactly as Michelangelo did at that age."

"Oh please don't say that," Don said with a grin. "If he winds up with Mikey's appetite, he'll eat us out of house and home."

They both laughed at that and Shilo wiggled closer to Don, digging his little face into his 'mother's' neck. Shilo's gurgling coos softened Don's expression and he gently rubbed the baby's carapace.

"Good morning, Dad, Donnie," Leo said as he walked towards them, a glass of milk in one hand. He took a seat next to his father and asked, "Did Don tell you about last night?"

"He did," Master Splinter said. "I am pleased that this menace has been removed from our city streets."

Leo took a drink from his glass before saying, "We missed Karai though. Her Master and most of their army are gone, but she didn't become Shredder's second in command because she lacks initiative."

"My computers will alert us if she shows up anywhere," Don said.

"If she does, we'll deal with her like we did the first time she showed up," Leo said.

"She's not the problem right now," Don said, glancing at his father. "Guerra is."

"A man like this Guerra is unpredictable," Master Splinter said, returning to their earlier conversation. "He is especially dangerous when he is angered and he is most angered when his ego is at stake. In many ways he is very much like the Shredder. To maintain command of his army, he must appear infallible and strong. He rules through fear as much as anything."

"He's making mistakes," Leo said. "He killed Shilo's mom in a fit of rage and then threw the gun where the police could find it and tie it back to his gang. We've already seen that there seems to be some discord between Guerra and his men."

Master Splinter leaned towards his sons, as though to make a point. "In order to save face, he will have to do one of two things. Either return to his primary activities and engineer a large windfall for his people, or locate and acquire his child from those he believes have stolen him. In the first instance he will abandon the search for Shilo."

Leo was shaking his head before his father even finished speaking. "He won't do that. You've seen and heard him, Donnie. Will Guerra stop trying to find Shilo?"

"No," Don said, resting his hand protectively against the back of Shilo's head.

"Then in order to catch him, one must push him to the point where his anger overrides his better judgment and his natural caution," Master Splinter said. "He must be made to feel as though he has been backed into a corner."

With a thoughtful look, Leo said, "I would think that the best way to do that would be to turn his own people against him. That's more a job for Casey Jones."

As if on cue, Casey sang out a greeting and walked into the lair. In his arms were several boxes full of donuts. He walked up to the kitchen to set them on the table before seeing the group in the TV room.

"Not too early, am I?" Casey asked.

Raph hopped down from the bedroom and walked over to him. "Nah. Whatcha got there?"

Casey flipped open the lid on one of the boxes. "Celebratory donuts. The Foot clan, Bebop, and Rocksteady are behind bars and Stockman is singing like a canary."

"I smell donuts," Mikey said, darting around Raph to quickly snag a chocolate covered donut.

The other two turtles joined them, Don still cradling Shilo against his shoulder. While Leo placed a couple of donuts on a plate to take to his father, Casey stood just behind Don so he could look at the baby turtle.

"Hi, little guy," Casey said, wiggling his fingers in front of Shilo's face.

Shilo emitted a squealing noise that sounded very much like laughter, lifting his head from Don's shoulder to stare at Casey's fingers.

"I made him laugh," Casey said proudly.

"Your fingers probably look like plump, juicy worms to the kid," Raph said.

Leo returned from delivering the plate to his father and went to the refrigerator to retrieve a jug of milk. "What is Stockman saying?"

Casey dropped onto a chair, using his foot to push out the one next to him so that Don could sit down. Mikey and Raph brought glasses to the table when Leo delivered the milk and then all three of them sat down as well.

"He claims he was being held against his will," Casey said. "He said he was a prisoner in Japan for a few months and then Karai ordered him to be returned to New York so that he could build a new Arc Capacitor. His story is that he worked for the Shredder for fear of his life and was always being watched."

"Does anybody believe that?" Raph asked.

"I think the DA is taking it with a grain of salt," Casey said. "He's salivating over what Stockman can tell him about the inner workings of the Foot clan here and in Japan. Stockman also said that Karai was making him experiment with Bebop and Rocksteady's blood to see if he could recreate the mutagen so that she could transform more humans."

"He didn't manage to do that, did he?" Leo asked with concern.

"According to Stockman, no," Casey said. "He said there's an element in the mutagen that he couldn't duplicate. Who knows if that's the truth though; Stockman needs to keep an ace up his sleeve if he doesn't want Karai to put a price on his head."

"What will the DA offer him then?" Don asked. "Police protection and a new identity?"

"Witness protection," Casey said. "That won't last long. Stockman isn't the sort of person to lay low. He's got too big an ego."

"Speaking of ego," Leo said, "we were just talking about Guerra. Master Splinter thinks he'll make mistakes that could land him in prison if we can find a way to turn his men against him."

"Javier Balderra is Guerra's second in command," Casey said. "Detective Young has been watching the gang on the surveillance cameras. She gave me an update this morning before I left the station. Apparently those two are butting heads and Guerra's men are getting nervous."

"Nervous enough to give him up?" Leo asked.

"Nervous enough to make him to do something stupid," Casey said. "He's drawing too much negative attention with his intrusive searches. The civilians who live in what the gang considers their territory are starting to rebel. If it gets to the point where they aren't afraid of retaliation, the gang is in trouble."

They finished the donuts in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. After Casey drained his glass of milk, he leaned back in his chair and yawned.

"Did you catch any sleep?" Mikey asked.

"No," Casey answered. "After booking everyone, I listened in on Stockman's interrogation and then filled out some reports. I'm guessing April got some shut eye because I haven't heard from her."

"Neither have we," Don said.

"I'll call her," Mikey said quickly. He tried her phone but it went unanswered.

"That's odd," Casey said. "She always picks up her phone, even when she's in bed."

"And how would ya' know that?" Raph asked, quirking an eye ridge at the man.

Mikey gave Casey a mischievous look. "'Cause they're a 'thing'."

Casey ignored the teasing, instead taking out his cell phone and dialing a number. After a minute he said, "April, call me or the guys. We're getting worried."

"Voice mail?" Leo asked when Casey disconnected from the call.

"Her office phone," Casey said. "I already left a message on her cell when I thought she was still at work."

He scrolled through the numbers on his phone and made another call. After getting past a couple of assistants, Casey finally reached April's boss.

The conversation didn't last long and when Casey got off the phone he looked both dissatisfied and worried.

"What did they say?" Leo asked.

"She was in the office early this morning, after her newscast," Casey said. "She had a couple of meetings and then said she was going to her apartment to get some sleep. No one has seen or heard from her since she walked out of the building. April seems to have disappeared."

TBC…..


End file.
